In 2020, the National Portrait Gallery asked Nick Cave to tell us the story behind this 1998 portrait.
This is what he sent to us: ‘Susie and I had just met. I was staying in a country house with a garden in West Cork, drying out for a while. I was with my little boy, Luke. Susie came to the garden to visit me with her dear friend and photographer Dominique Issermann. Dominique has a concealed and surreptitious way with her camera and has taken many extraordinary photos of Susie and me, over the years. Susie and I are taking a “country walk”. I love that neither of us clearly have any idea how to navigate the countryside — me in my suit and Susie in her heels. Little Luke is racing off into the distance. Susie and I look like we are walking on the moon. These were our first hesitant and supported steps into a beautiful life together.’
