National Portrait Gallery’s new portrait and travelling exhibition « AMA
The National Portrait Gallery has commissioned a photo portrait of the Queen of England and Duke of Edinburgh. It will be presented for the first time at a travelling exhibition entitled “The Queen: Art & Image”, which will be inaugurated on 25 June at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh.
The portrait was made by German artist Thomas Struth. The museum wished to celebrate the ninetieth birthday of the Duke as well as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Struth was born in Geldern, Germany, in 1954. He is one of the best-known German artists and photographers in the world. He trained at the Staatlichen Kunstakademie in Dusseldorf with Gerhard Richter. He gained international recognition for his series Die Architektur der Straßen and Portraits. In the 1980’s, Struth started creating family portraits, playing on the fact that the spectator perceives the subject as a conventional one. He was thus considered the ideal candidate for this commission, as the artwork is sure to be original.
The exhibition will consist of portraits of the Queen, tracing her sixty-year reign. Lucian Freud’s portrait (2000 – 2001) from the Royal Collection will be on display, as well as controversial depictions of Elizabeth II by Justin Mortimer, showing her head separated from her body.
The exhibition will show at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh from 25 June to 18 September; Ulster Museum in Belfast from 14 October 2011 to 15 January 2012; National Museum of Cardiff from 4 February to 29 April 2012 and lastly at the National Portrait Gallery in London from 17 May to 21 October 2012.
