Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon, National Portrait Gallery
(2 July – 18 October 2015)
Yesterday Gentlemans Butler joined the throngs of journalists attending the press view for this wonderful new photography exhibition exploring the fascinating life and career of celebrated film star, fashion icon and humanitarian, Audrey Hepburn.
This exhibition is not too large, but well worth it, so either think of this as part of a wider tour of the gallery or maybe it’s something to do as part of a date with a lunch and a walk.
The exhibition follows the rise of one of the world’s first truly international stars, from her early years in the Netherlands and as a dancer and chorus girl in London’s West End, to her becoming a stage and screen icon, and culminating in her philanthropic work in later life.
Photographs of Hepburn before she was famous, formal portraits, and photographs taken on set during the making of some of her most-loved films are brought together in the exhibition. Also on show are portraits of Hepburn by some of the leading photographers of the twentieth century, including Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Angus McBean, Irving Penn, Terry O’Neill and Norman Parkinson.
There is a selection of rarely seen photographs of Hepburn as a nine-year-old girl in 1938, to portraits from her last major photo shoot, taken by Steven Meisel in 1991. Many of these have never been seen before in the UK.
Highlights from the exhibition include examples of her early work in London as a fashion model for photographs by Antony Beauchamp for the department store Marshall & Snelgrove, and the highly successful Crookes Lacto-Calamine skin-cream campaign, photographed by Angus McBean in 1950.
Also included in the exhibition are vintage magazine covers, from the Picturegoer in 1952 to the front cover of Life magazine featuring Hepburn in Givenchy for her role in Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1961, taken by Howell Conant. Original film stills and ephemera complete the story of one of the world’s most photographed women.
Luca Dotti says: ‘She would be honoured to have an exhibition dedicated to her at the National Portrait Gallery. And glad to be back home.’
Born in Brussels, Belgium (1929), to a Dutch Baroness and an Anglo-Irish father, Hepburn moved to London from Amsterdam in late 1948 to take up a ballet scholarship at the Rambert Ballet School in Notting Hill.
After a number of important stage performances as a chorus girl in the West End, Hepburn made her earliest screen debuts in British films. Her critically acclaimed stage performance in Gigi (1951) introduced Hepburn to American theatre audiences and confirmed her position as a new star. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Hepburn’s career flourished with a string of highly successful roles, and she became the first actress to win an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award for a single performance (her leading role in Roman Holiday, 1953). Hepburn worked as a Unicef ambassador from 1988 until her death in 1993. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 in recognition of her contribution to the arts and her humanitarian work.
As someone who was inspired by woman from this era, my mother being one of them, they represent grace, beauty and style and certainly you will see these qualities in abundance. Well worth a visit.
AUDREY HEPBURN: PORTRAITS OF AN ICON
2 July – 18 October 2015, National Portrait Gallery, London
npg.org.uk
PUBLICATION
A beautifully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition including an essay by Helen Trompeteler and a chronology by Terence Pepper along with over 145 portraits and supporting images. The catalogue will be available to purchase from National Portrait Gallery Shops and online as hardback (RRP £29.95) and paperback (exclusive to the Gallery, RRP £19.95).
PORTRAIT RESTAURANT
Travel back to 1940s London and the glamorous Ciro’s Club, and celebrate Audrey Hepburn’s London stage debut with sophisticated cocktails and a stylish menu. Visit npg.org.uk for opening times and booking details.
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE, opening hours Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday: 10.00 – 18.00 (Gallery closure commences at 17.50) Late Opening: Thursday, Friday: 10.00 – 21.00 (Gallery closure commences at 20.50) Nearest Underground: Leicester Square/Charing Cross General information: 0207 306 0055 Recorded information: 020 7312 2463
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