The former prime minister is portrayed holding a lily of the valley, a plant associated with the month of May.
Mr Dai said: “In this portrait, the aim was to produce not just a convincing physical likeness, but also a psychological characterisation, both individual and yet archetypal – imbued with symbolism and atmosphere.
“A good painting needs to be a revelation and also paradoxically, an enigma. It should possess an indefinable quality – in short, a mystery.”
Mrs May said the portrait was a “huge honour”.
Tory MP Dean Russell, chairman of the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art, said: “The Parliamentary Art Collection records those who have made an important contribution to politics and public service here in the UK.
“Few embody this more than Theresa May – our second female prime minister, as well as a devoted Parliamentarian and a dedicated public servant.”
Art appreciation – “An impressive, but only partially successful, portrait”
By Francesca Peacock
A striking new portrait of former prime minister Theresa May has been unveiled in Parliament. Saied Dai – who has previously painted figures from children’s author Jacqueline Wilson to one-time director of the Royal Ballet, Dame Monica Mason – was commissioned by the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art to paint the portrait which will eventually hang in Portcullis House.
It’s certainly a strong image. May stands tall against a shade of House of Commons green, wearing a Tory Party-blue suit and a sweeping navy overcoat thrown over her shoulders. She looks out at the viewer with one hand clasped over her torso in a nod to the “hand-in-waistcoat” trope of portraits of martial leaders from centuries gone by.
It’s an image of unyielding, rigid authority that is impressive, but only partially successful. Despite the force of the portrait, the former prime minister – who so struggled with an unruly Parliament during Brexit – is reminiscent of a much-beleaguered general.
Where the painting sings, though, is in its details. Dai paints May with a lily of the valley in her hand: the flower is associated with the month of May, her namesake (and was also, apparently, Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite flower). With intimacy painted amid the bravado of the composition, this is a portrait with touching humanity; a new perspective on the former prime minister.
