Diamonds Are Forever
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Coinciding with her Diamond Jubilee, the National Portrait Gallery, London is showcasing images of Elizabeth II.
“From Beaton and Leibovitz to Annigoni and Warhol, The Queen: Art and Image is the most wide-ranging exhibition of images in different media devoted to a single royal sitter,” says the museum. “Formal painted portraits, official photographs, media pictures, and powerful responses by contemporary artists are shown in an exhibition that has both traditional representations with unconventional works that extend the visual language of royal portraiture.
“Documenting the changing nature of representations of the Monarch, the exhibition shows how images serve as a lens through which the shifting perceptions of royalty can be viewed. This perspective reflects radical artistic changes. It also demonstrates fundamental shifts in the social scene and historical context, and the exhibition highlights important developments and events: from The Queen’s ambiguous relationship with the press, to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the advent of new technology. This multi-textured view of the period is emphasised by the inclusion, alongside fine art, of material drawn from newspapers, film footage, postage stamps and satirical images.
“Among the highlights of the works from life are both Annigoni’s celebrated commissions, his iconic 1954-5 portrait and also his very different but no less magisterial 1969 commission for the National Portrait Gallery, Lucian Freud’s 2000-1 portrait from the Royal Collection and Thomas Struth’s compelling recent large-scale photograph depicting The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. Among other exhibited photographers for whom The Queen sat are Annie Leibovitz, Dorothy Wilding, Cecil Beaton (whose iconic Westminster Abbey Coronation image will be on display) and Chris Levine, whose highly unusual photograph from 2004 of The Queen with her eyes closed will be included.”
“The Queen: Art & Image” runs through October 21 at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, +44 (0) 20 7306 0055, npg.org.uk.
Franklin Einspruch is the art critic for The New York Sun. He blogs at Artblog.net.
