The Queen : Art & Image

To commemorate the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the National Portrait Gallery (London) will show 60 images in a landmark exhibition that chronicles 60 years of Elizabeth II's reign from Sir Winston Churchill to the present day.

The Queen Art & Image is an important summary of how artists have interpreted Royal subject matter through commissioned and informal images. It includes a diversity of perspectives on the way her image as a person and as the monarch has been appropriated and manipulated by artists and the mass media.

Focussed on the theme of 'representation', the works are accompanied by ephermera and film footage offering a flavour of the times in which the portraits were completed.  This context helps understanding of the often turbulent times in which Elizabeth II has reigned and how perceptions of Royalty and its role have changed over the decades.

Notable exhibits include Pietro Annigoni's 1969 commission for the National Portrait Gallery , Lucien Freud's 2000-01 portrait from the Royal Collection and Justin Mortimer's unorthodox work of 1998 where the Queen's head floats from her body.

Photographers represented include Annie Leibovitz, Dorothy Wilding and Cecil Beaton, including his iconic Westminster Abbey Coronation image, Chris Levine's photograph (2004) with Her Majesty's eyes closed is re-worked as a hologram.

Unofficial portraits from major 20th century artists include Gilbert and George, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Eve Arnold, Patrick Lichfield and Lord Snowdon, whose work is featured against a multi-media backdrop of major news events as the miners' strike and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The exhibition emphasises contemporary analysis and chronicles the deconstruction of traditional portrait imagery. What better subject to illustrate the changes than Her Majesty - described by Sandy Nairne as the "most portrayed person in British history".

James Holloway, Director of the National Scottish Portrait Gallery said: "I am delighted that Scotland will be able to enjoy the remarkable Jubilee exhibition, which will be presented in the heart of the capital of Her Majesty's Stewart ancestors.

The Scottish show will feature an additional work by William Oliphant Hutchinson, "The Queen in Thistle Robes" (1956).

Touring the four national capitals of the United Kingdom for over one year,  The Queen Art and Image opens at the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of the celebrations for the 2012 Olympic Games, which are thought likely to attract one million foreign visitors.

A new portrait has been commissioned to mark the Queen's forthcoming Diamond Jubilee which shows the monarch with Prince Philip in Windsor Castle's Green Drawing Room.

The photograph by Thomas Struth is the first double portrait of the couple to be commissioned by the NPG and the first one of the  Queen Elizabeth since John Wonnacott's Royal Family group painting in 2000. 

It also marks the Duke's 90th birthday earlier this month and  will be  part of the touring exhibition, "The Queen : Art and Image".

Dates of tour: The National Gallery Complex, Edinburgh 25 June - 18 September 2011, The Ulster Museum, Belfast 14 October 2011 - 15 January 2012; The National Museum, Cardiff 4 February - 29 April 2012; The National Portrait Gallery, London 17 May - 21 October 2012. 

Image: Pietro Annigoni, Queen Elizabeth II (1969)

Photographic Copyright: National Portrait Gallery