National Portrait Gallery

Hungarian-born photojournalist Michael Peto’s photographic career is celebrated in this new display organised in collaboration with the University of Dundee. The ten photographs by Michael Peto (1908-1970) taken in London during the 1950s and 1960s to go on display from 17 September 2013 will include the photograph shown to the right of Elizabeth Taylor with Richard Burton during the recording of the acclaimed BBC radio production of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood in October 1963.
Other celebrated subjects in the display will include Samuel Beckett photographed in his Paris apartment in 1961, Nelson Mandela photographed during a brief visit to London in June 1962, Jennie Lee photographed near the Houses of Parliament in 1965, and Paul McCartney with The Beatles during the making of the Richard Lester directed film Help! (1965). One of Peto’s last sittings featured in the display shows a young Ian McKellen at the time of his success in the Prospect theatre production of Richard II in 1969.
Born in 1908 in Bata, Hungary, Peto settled in London at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, working firstly as a writer. He took up photography in 1947 mainly to illustrate his own work. His photographs were first published in The Observer in March 1949. He became a regular contributor alongside other celebrated photojournalists including Jane Bown, Peter Keen and David Sim. During the 1950s and 1960s, Peto documented social issues and the key cultural and political figures of the era. His celebrated publications include The Dancer’s World (1963) with Nigel Gosling and About Britain (1967) with Kenneth Harris. Following Peto’s death in 1970, his archive of 130,000 original negatives and vintage prints was donated by his family to the University of Dundee.

Suitable for

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson.php

Bailey’s Stardust is a landmark exhibition of portraits by one of the world’s most distinguished and distinctive photographers, David Bailey.

Over 250 images, personally selected and printed by Bailey, will be presented thematically across a series of contrasting rooms and will illustrate the extraordinary range of subjects that he has captured throughout his career: actors, writers, musicians, filmmakers, designers, models, artists and people encountered on his travels; many of them famous, some anonymous, all of them unforgettable.

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Full price £14.50
Senior citizens (aged 60 and over) £13.00
Concessions £12.00
Children 12–18 years, registered unemployed, students, disabled people (with free entry for one carer)
National Art Pass holders 50% discount

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/bailey/exhibition.php

The Great War in Portraits (27 Feb-15 Jun 2014), will kick start a four-year public programme of displays, events and workshops for young people at the Gallery which is promising “an approach never previously adopted”

Showing how the First World War was depicted and reported with a degree of visual detail unprecedented in the history of conflict, the exhibition will feature the now familiar and iconic portraits of Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Winston Churchill together with images reflecting the war experience of those from all social classes who served.

Important loans of major art works by Lovis Corinth and Max Beckmann and Kirchner’s painting Selbstbildnis als Soldat (Self-portrait as a Soldier) will bring searing German Expressionistic masterpieces into a mix, which will also include Harold Gillies disturbing photographs of soldiers with facial injuries from the Royal College of Surgeons and Henry Tonks’ portraits of similarly disfigured servicemen.

A First World War portrait of an infantry officer
Wilfred Owen by John Gunston, 1916© National Portrait Gallery, London
An installation of 40 photographs displayed in a grid formation will present a range of protagonists from medal winners and heroes to the dead and the executed, interspersed with artists, poets, memoirists and images representing the roles played by women, the home front and, the Commonwealth.

The exhibition will also feature a divergent pairing of British and German films devoted to the Battle of the Somme never previously seen together; and a rare photograph, Courtellemont by Jules Gervais, described by curators as “a portrait of absence” depicting a deserted, battle-scarred landscape.

NPG Curator Paul Moorehouse says “a complex range of human experience” will be covered in the show which will reveal the “evolving different roles, responsibilities and destinies” and “illuminate the way war was represented through portraits of individuals – each caught up in events beyond reason or control”.

An accompanying programme includes a display called keep the Home Fires Burning, featuring stars of Music Halls of the Great War period and First World War-inspired performances by the Portrait Choir.

An NPG-led project called National Memory – Local Stories, will look at local collections throughout the UK and investigate how they can be used to engage with young people and highlight significant moment during the war.

A fully-illustrated book by Paul Moorhouse with an essay by Sebastian Faulks will accompany the exhibition priced £18.95.

Tuesday 11 March 2014
11.00 - 16.00
Free, booking essential
A free Study Day for teachers organised by the National Portrait Gallery in collaboration with the Imperial War Museum, in connection with the Gallery’s exhibition The Great War in Portraits.

In viewing the First World War through images of many individuals involved, The Great War in Portraits looks at the radically different roles, experiences, and, ultimately, destinies, of those caught up in the conflict.

The Study Day includes:

Key note talks by historian Dan Todman and Paul Moorhouse, Curator of Twentieth Century Portraits.

Afternoon session for History teachers working with educators from the National Portrait Gallery and the Imperial War Museum to explore ways of teaching the First World War, working with three different types of evidence – artefacts, portraits and film.

Afternoon session for Art teachers includes a presentation and Q&A with contemporary War Artist Brendan Kelly exploring ways of accessing issues around war and conflict in the classroom.

Opportunity to visit The Great War in Portraits during an extended lunch break (lunch not included).
Free: Booking essential

Website

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conflict-war-study-day-for-teachers-and-museum-learning-personnel-tickets-8303462881?dm_t=0,0,0,0,0

In viewing the First World War through images of many individuals involved, The Great War in Portraits looks at the radically different roles, experiences, and, ultimately, destinies, of those caught up in the conflict. Drawing from the Gallery’s Collection and The Great War in Portraits, students will have the opportunity to explore artists’ varied approaches to war and conflict through discussion and practical events. Students will also have the opportunity to meet and engage with contemporary war artist, Brendan Kelly and ask vital questions about his work in the field.

Suitable for

• 16-17
• 18+
• Family friendly

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk/learning/schools/secondary-schools/art1/cpd-for-teachers.php

A discussion of how Britain became embroiled in the Firs World War and examine the first few weeks of the fighting, in which the war to end all wars shifted from a rapid and brutal movement to the now familiar image of devastating trench warfare. There will be a Q and A session at the end of the talk.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

Subject to availability.

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/late-shift-1/in-conversation-first-world-war-the-beginning-13032014.php

Former BBC Chief News Correspondent Kate Adie charts how women's contributions to the war effort began a seismic move towards equal rights that influenced women's lives in future generations.

When World War One broke out, a generation of men went off to fight, while women had the opportunity to emerge from the shadows of their domestic lives. Women became a visible force in public life. They began to take up essential roles - from transport to policing, munitions to sport, entertainment, even politics. They had finally become citizens, a recognised part of the war machine, acquiring their own rights and often an independent income. Former BBC Chief News Correspondent Kate Adie charts the seismic move towards equal rights with men that began a century ago and asks what these women achieved for future generations. She will be speaking with Erica Wagner, journalist, author and former literary editor of The Times.

Suitable for

• Not suitable for children

Admission

Tickets: £6 (£5 concessions and Gallery Supporters) Book online, call 020 7306 0055 or visit the Gallery in person.

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk

A lecture about Alfred Leete's iconic World War One propaganda design featuring the accusing finger of Lord Kitchener and a source of inspiration within the collections of the National Portrait Gallery. There will be a Q and A session at the end of the talk.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

Subject to availability.

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/event-root/march-2014/lecture-your-country-needs-you-20032014.php

Tuesday 25 March 2014
National Portrait Gallery
11.00 - 15.00
Free, booking essential

A Study Day for students organised by the National Portrait Gallery in connection with the Gallery’s exhibition The Great War in Portraits. In viewing the First World War through images of many individuals involved, this exhibition looks at the radically different roles, experiences, and, ultimately, destinies, of those caught up in the conflict.

The Study Day includes:

Introduction to the exhibition by Paul Moorhouse, Curator of Twentieth Century Portraits.

Guided practical session, students work in class groups to analyse large group portraits of key First World War figures.

Students visit the exhibition and carry out a research activity in small groups, reporting back in the afternoon.

‘Ask the Curator’ session, with questions from the students.

FREE booking essential

Book now by email or phone
education@npg.org.uk
020 7312 2483

Suitable for

• 16-17
• 18+

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk/learning/schools-and-colleges/study-days.php

Grace will guide you as you draw, paint and work with found objects and mixed media, creating an individual response. Whether you are experienced or a beginner, this workshop is designed to help you to work from visual research through to a finished outcome. Participants will have the opportunity to investigate ideas around memory and remembrance. The workshop will begin with a tour of the exhibition led by Grace and a discussion of some of the key images.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

£100.00. £80.00 concessions and Gallery Supporters. Book online, call 020 7306 0055 or visit the Gallery in person.

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk

Visit The Great War in Portraits and ‘No End of a Lesson’: The Boer War, 1899 – 1902 to create a reflective response using craftivism (activism through craft) techniques.

Work with Sarah Corbett from Craftivist Collective, to explore activism through craft; and contemporary artist Grace Adam. Using The Great War in Portraits and No End a Lesson: The Boer War, 1899-1902 as a starting point, make your own personal response to showcase in the Gallery on the final day of the workshop.

You will also have the unique opportunity to visit the Heinz Library and Archive to see original documents that the Gallery has kept since the time of the First World War.

For ages 14–21.

Suitable for

• 14-15
• 16-17
• 18+

Admission

Booking required. Please email youthbookings@npg.org.uk or call 020 7312 2483.

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk

Author Louisa Young, curator Emma Chambers and maxillofacial surgeon Iain Hutchison examine the work of Sir Harold Gillies and artist Henry Tonks and discuss how the techniques they developed to restore faces severely injured in the First World War have been used in modern day treatment of physical wounds and their psychological impact.

During the War, surgeon turned artist Tonks produced before and after images of Gillies’ patients, portraying not just the physical, but the psychological effects of plastic surgery. The skills of artist and surgeon combined to restore confidence in men who had been robbed of their identity by their wounds.

Suitable for

• Not suitable for children

Admission

Places for our free events are allocated on a first come, first served basis and are subject to availability. We recommend arriving in good time.

Website

http://www.npg.org.uk

The National Gallery, in partnership with English National Ballet, presents a dance response to David Jones’ seminal poem of the First World War, In Parenthesis, described by T.S. Eliot as a ‘work of genius’. The performance explores themes within the poem and will take place across the Gallery. Part of Museums at Night.