Most people who get to celebrate their 90th birthday probably feel they deserve a bit of a rest.

Not Sam Morse-Brown. The irrepressible artist who entered this world just two years after the Edwardian Age got into full swing, celebrated his 90th birthday by painting two more portraits to add to his vast output over the past 70 years.

The last 22 of those years have been spent in Bermuda. Having sailed here from Europe with his wife, in a 33-foot sloop, he proceeded to paint just about everything in sight, from people to animals and landscapes -- not to mention many subject and abstract themes.

Bermuda's future historians should find this tiny portion of the Island's long history unusually well documented, for Sam Morse-Brown has painted a wide cross-section of Bermudian society.

Now, many of those sitters have loaned their pictures back, to stage in the Bacardi Building, a unique exhibition of his work over the last couple of decades.

Sam Morse-Brown came here with impressive credentials: besides his official portraits of World War II leaders, he was the first artist to paint Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace and his work has been exhibited in London's National Portrait Gallery.

This show confirms his extraordinary ability to capture not only the likeness, but the personalities of his portrait subjects. That these range from formal folk in grand apparel to children and puppies, is an indication of his versatility and depth of response to the individual he is portraying.

At their best, his portraits radiate an inner glow that is almost palpable.

The oils possess a rare painterly quality and his pastels, a softness and delicacy that imbues a sense of tenderness, especially in his studies of children and animals.

Composition, and a fine eye for understated detail are also trademarks of his art: it is seen in the gleam of skin highlighted by a row of lustrous pearls, the sheen of light in a woman's hair reflected in the burnished gold of a ring. We see, too, the severity of a black dress relieved by the subtle frivolity of a tiny vase nearby, that holds two sparingly brushed hibiscus, or the sudden splash of white lace, exquisitely painted and dramatically poised to catch the light.

Mr. Morse-Brown, who always paints directly from life, has relaxed his ban on photographic aids to paint a powerful impression of the tall-ship Marques, which tragically sank north of Bermuda in 1984. His Skating Rhythm, with its exuberant loops, is also a fine example of his versatility and vivid imagination.

His contribution to the artistic life of Bermuda is a remarkable one. PATRICIA CALNAN.