Lily Allen by Nadav Kander (2008). Picture © Nadav Kander
Winston Churchill, Lily Allen and Lord Kitchener have primarily earned their places within the hallowed halls of the National Portrait Gallery thanks to their official professions, but the less notable preoccupations of sitters are the subject of a new marketing campaign from the star-studded institution.
The Gallery has summoned design agency True North to cover the city in banners and posters for the Take Another Look initiative, re-examining the permanent collection in a bid to take advantage of public demand for inside scoops.
Alex James by Julian Opie (2000). Picture © Julian Opie
Anyone who hasn't kept an eye on Heat Magazine since 2006 might be enlightened to learn of Allen's traineeship as a florist before she chanced upon the more lucrative vocation of selling millions of records.
A lifetime of plant food might have been preferable to Churchill's pre-fame escape from a South African prison during the Boer War, and Kitchener was apparently the implementer of knitting techniques to create comfortable socks for soldiers in between enlisting thousands of troops as Secretary of State for War.
Sir Winston Churchill by Walter Richard. Picture © Estate of Walter Sickert / National Portrait Gallery, London
True North's Martin Carr said his agency and Gallery staff had worked feverishly to "eke out" various "witty and enjoyable" talking points.
Blur bassist Alex James's metamorphosis into a cheese-churning country bumpkin, jazz musician George Melly's addiction to fly-fishing and Crimean War nurse Mary Seacole's skills as an "enterprising hotelier" during the Californian Gold Rush are also among the first to be featured.
George Melly and Ronnie Scott by Jillian Edelstein (1989). Picture © Jillian Edelstein
Head of Marketing Denise Ellitson said the Gallery hoped the campaign would encourage new visitors to peruse the displays. Other figures at the NPG include Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, The Beatles and David Beckham.
