The Naked Portrait 1900 –2007
29 September – 9 December
This is the first exhibition to focus on naked portraiture as a strand in the art of the last century. In contrast to the wider genre of the ‘nude’, naked portraiture engages with the specific identity of an individual sitter and subverts portraiture’s usual concern with the social façade, and the way status and self-image are communicated by what people wear. The title is borrowed from Lucian Freud, who has used it for many of his paintings.
Themes in the exhibition explore self-portraits, portraits of loved ones, couples and celebrity and will be represented by over 150 works including paintings, sculptures, works on paper and photographs.
Artists in the exhibition include Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Pierre Bonnard, Helen Chadwick, Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud, Gilbert & George, Robert Mapplethorpe, Alice Neel, Eduardo Paolozzi, Marc Quinn, Auguste Rodin, Jo Spence, Wolfgang Tillmans, Alfred Stieglitz and Sam Taylor-Wood
The exhibition has been curated by Martin Hammer, University of Edinburgh. Exhibition organised by the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh and Compton Verney.
First Image: Two Men, 1987-8, Lucian Freud. Oil on canvas.
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh © Lucian Freud
Second Image: Jane Birkin, 1969, David Bailey. Bromide print.
National Portrait Gallery, London © David Bailey
Third Image: Catherine Long 2000, Marc Quinn. Marble.
Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum © the artist. Courtesy White Cube / Jay Jopling
Banner: Robert Downey Jr. 2002 (detail), Sam Taylor-Wood. C-Print.
© Courtesy the artist and Jay Joplin/Whitecube