Public touched by artist's portrait of dying father

An artist who began painting a portrait of his father just before his death said finishing it had been "part of the grieving process".

Vincent Michael Brown, from Warmley, near Bristol, painted his dad "all through" his life and even had one of his portraits shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award.

But when he shared Father Holding On, his final painting of his dad, online, he was "completely shocked by the response".

"Painting my father dying is about as emotional as it gets. I did most of it in tears, but it helped me. So many people wrote to me saying they saw their experience in my painting," he said.

The image attracted hundreds of comments and thousands of likes from people going through a similar experience, as well as care workers and nurses "who recognised that image".

Responding to the Facebook post, Georgina Millington wrote the image had stopped her in her tracks.

"Reminded me so much of my Dad's final days. Beautiful heart-wrenching tribute."

While Wayne England posted it was "almost too personal and painful to you, for me to view it., many thanked Brown for sharing such a "beautiful" and "powerful" image that "we can all be familiar with".

Karen Perkins posted: "It seems to have touched so many of us who have also lost our dear dads in the same circumstances, staying by their side until they sadly slip away."

And Sophie Weller wrote: "As a vicar, I'm often with people towards the end of life. This is a really moving picture and reminds me of many precious souls. I'm very moved by this."

While Ellen O'Neill simply posted: "This is my Dad's reality right now. So heart-breaking to sit and watch."

Born in Fishponds in Bristol in 1944, Brown said his father, Michael Brown, was a "tough" and "very strong man" who "didn't show much in the way of emotion" and had "overcome all sorts" in his life.

Married with four children, he was the captain of the local skittles team and a life-long supporter of Bristol Rovers.

"My father was a carpenter. He worked very hard, often seven days a week, and he would come home and fall asleep in the chair," Brown said.

"And I would quite often whip out a sketch pad and do some drawings of him."

But following a diagnosis of vascular dementia, Brown said his father changed.

"It took a year-and-a-half at the end, in and out of hospital," he said.

"To watch him become vulnerable and see that side of him that I had never seen before.

"It was the first time I'd really seen him, and it was the first time he told me he loved me - near the end."

In 2025, his father contracted pneumonia and passed away just before his 81st birthday.

"I didn't even cry when he died, and my father meant the world to me.

"I'd already started the picture - it was about a week later, and I thought, 'this isn't right not to shed a tear' because I knew what I felt.

"So I started painting - and I've never done a painting where I was crying throughout painting the picture."

Brown added he had wanted it to be a tribute to his father's determination.

"Right up until the end, he was a real fighter, and that's part of what the painting was about," he said.

"Not just the fact that he died, but he didn't go quietly."

Dad Holding On will be on display at the Royal West of England Academy for Art from 12 September to 3 January.

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