Grace Payne-Kumar (b. 1999, HK) is an award-winning artist and educator, currently Artist in Residence at Marlborough College. Trained in classical painting at Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence, with an MA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, she uses the ‘sight-size method’ to create portraits inspired by Old Masters such as Van Dyck and Titian.
A finalist in the 2019 Scottish Portrait Awards, Grace won the Member’s Choice Award and was commissioned to paint the first female Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland, Lady Dorrian, now permanently displayed in Parliament Hall alongside works by Raeburn and Sargent. Her solo exhibitions include About Face at the Scottish Arts Club (2021), From Life at Sarum Studio (2022), and Homecoming at The Mount House Gallery (2024).
Grace’s work is part of the permanent collections of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow. In 2024 she created a posthumous portrait of Jamini Sen, the first female and woman of colour fellow of the College. Her work was featured in three issues of British Vogue in 2024, and she currently serves as the youngest trustee to date for The Wiltshire Museum.
Grace continues to work on private commissions, teach students and create portraits to diversify collections internationally from her studio at The Mount House Gallery.