The Naked Portrait: 1900 – 2007

About the
exhibition

This was 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 explored self-portraits, portraits of loved ones, couples and celebrity and were represented by over 150 works including paintings, sculptures, works on paper and photographs.

Artists in the exhibition included 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 was curated by Martin Hammer, University of Edinburgh. Exhibition organised by the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh and Compton Verney.