This is a transcription of Vermeer’s magisterial ‘Maid asleep’. Compare Dennis’ version with the original and it’s clear that Creffield’s version is more sensuous, more high-toned – a celebration of a woman, alert and in control. Paint marks for Creffield were the equivalent of a caress. For him painting wasn’t a matter of seeing but a matter of encountering. As he said in a catalogue to his Serpentine solo exhibition, he approached his subjects with whole his senses alert. ‘Experience my work bodily’ was his credo.

Text published by Portland Gallery on the occasion of the launch of Dennis Creffield: Art & Life (Lund Humphries), 2022