Sunday Arts Magazine

20 Feb 2022

Shakespeare to Winehouse

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Shakespeare to Winehouse is a major international exhibition featuring iconic works from the world’s first and foremost portrait gallery, and includes portraits of people who have shaped British history, identity and culture over the past 500 years. The faces of some of the best-known and most-loved Britons – Queen Elizabeth II, the Beatles, David Bowie, Kate Moss, Mick Jagger and Princess Diana, to name a few – are situated alongside historical luminaries including the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, Queen Elizabeth I, Lord Nelson and Sir Isaac Newton. Modern-day icons like Ed Sheeran, Darcey Bussell, Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai feature too.

Rather than a chronological display, the exhibition is focused on six interrelated themes of Fame, Power, Love and Loss, Identity, Innovation, and Self, demonstrating how defining characteristics of portraiture have been reinterpreted and reimagined by artists across time, and showing how portraits can share the same language despite being created centuries apart.

Karen Quinlan AM, Director of the National Portrait Gallery said many of the works in the exhibition are rarely off the walls of our sister gallery in London. “We are thrilled to have this rare opportunity to show them here in Australia while NPG London is closed for refurbishment,” Ms Quinlan said.

“The exhibition includes portraits of many well known and loved British faces, as well as works of immense historic and artistic importance. The hero portrait of William Shakespeare was the first to enter NPG London’s collection on its founding in 1856 is thought to be the only one to capture the playwright during his lifetime, and the self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck is also widely considered to be one of his finest.

“There is a broad and diverse range of artistic styles and genres from an important list of artists, each in their own way capturing the icons of their time – from royals, rockstars, fashion models, leaders and literary giants. This is a big picture exhibition of British art, culture and history,” Ms Quinlan said.

NPG Curator Joanna Gilmour says that “one of the many strengths of Shakespeare to Winehouse is the way that it demonstrates the inventiveness and complexity of a genre that is often typecast as staid and conservative. The rich storytelling tradition that is intrinsic to portraiture will be abundantly evident in the exhibition as well.

“There are many quirky, tragic and fascinating stories behind the works in this exhibition – such as the painting of the Brontë sisters, which was long thought lost before being found folded up on top of a cupboard in 1914; Charles Buchel’s arresting portrait of writer Radclyffe Hall, best known for her seminal, semi-autobiographical novel The Well of Loneliness, which was banned from publication in Britain for over twenty years for its depiction of a lesbian relationship; and an uber-stylish self-portrait by artist and designer Doris Zinkeisen, which she painted in a hotel room in Sydney in 1929.”

The National Portrait Gallery, London was founded in 1856 to encourage through portraiture the appreciation and understanding of the people who have made and are making British history and culture. Today it promotes engagement with portraiture in all media to a wide-ranging public by conserving, growing and sharing the world’s largest collection of portraits. The Gallery in St Martin’s Place, London is currently closed until 2023, while essential building works take place on the Inspiring People redevelopment project, which will transform the Gallery, including a complete refurbishment of the building and a new learning centre. During the closure period, the Gallery will continue to share its Collection through its digital channels and a series of partnerships and collaborations.

The National Portrait Gallery Australia is one of the youngest of Australia’s national cultural institutions. Housed in a purpose-built, award-winning building in the heart of Canberra’s cultural precinct, the NPG has a collection of over three thousand portraits of remarkable Australians, reflecting the evolving face of Australia, with all of its diversity, history, heart and complexity.

The exhibition has been supported by the ACT Government through VisitCanberra’s Major Event Fund.

The Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London exhibition is supported by the Australian Government International Exhibitions Insurance (AGIEI) Program. This program provides funding for the purchase of insurance for significant cultural exhibitions. Without AGIEI, the high cost of insuring significant cultural items would prohibit this major exhibition from touring to Australia.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:03 — 14.9MB)

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