Nicholas Cullinan, director
George Romney by George Romney, 1784
In 2002, when I first worked at the Gallery as a visitor services assistant, we had a wonderful exhibition for George Romney, in which I spent a lot of time. This extraordinary self-portrait was part of that show, so it’s great to hang in a spectacular display of our great late 18th-century portraits for our reopening.
Romney’s unflinching gaze reveals a watchful figure wrapped up in his own thoughts – for me, it’s all the more powerful for being unfinished, and in fact I included it in an exhibition about unfinished works of art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York when I worked there.
Sadie (Zadie Smith) by Toyin Ojih Odutola, 2018-19
This new commission will be shown for the first time on our walls when we reopen. Zadie Smith is one of the greatest literary voices of our time, and Toyin Ojih Odutola is one of the most exciting artists working today, so for me, this work is particularly important as the perfect pairing of artist and sitter – it’s also the first work by Odutola to enter a British public collection. As Smith commented on this painting: “I know her art will have a tremendous effect on young people because I’m a grown-ass woman and it’s had a tremendous effect on me. Becoming familiar with her images is like having something I missed and wanted in childhood delivered to me now, as an adult. And to be a Toyin creation myself, on the walls of the [National] Portrait Gallery? It’s incredible. I still can’t quite believe it.”
Gillian Wearing (Me as Julia Margaret Cameron and Two Muses) by Gillian Wearing, 2019
This new work in our collection (one of more than 60 recent acquisitions and commissions) is from Turner prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing’s Spiritual Family series, which shines a light on the artists who have inspired her work. This work is modelled on existing portraits of and by Cameron, including those in our collection (we will also stage an exhibition pairing Cameron with Francesca Woodman next year). Our new galleries will be providing much more space for the display of both our contemporary and historic photography collections. It’s really important to me that visitors will be able to view works like this in the context of the medium’s history.
Portrait of Mai (Omai) by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c 1776
Reynolds’s spectacular portrait of Mai, the first Polynesian to visit Britain, holds a pivotal place in global art history and will be on display at the gallery (for the first time ever in a public collection) when we reopen. It’s widely regarded as the finest portrait by one of Britain’s greatest painters and, artistically, it’s one of the most important paintings in our collection. Reynolds never sold his portrait of Mai, keeping it on display at his studio until his death, perhaps as an example of his artistic genius.
Malala Yousafzai by Shirin Neshat, 2018
When I was interviewed for the director’s job at the NPG, I was asked: “Who would you commission a portrait of and which artist would you ask to create it?” My answer was Malala Yousafzai by Shirin Neshat and, in 2018, this portrait was made a reality. Across the photograph, the artist has inscribed the words of a Pashto poem, drawing parallels between Yousafzai and a legendary Afghan heroine. Standing up for women’s rights, as both the artist and sitter of this work do magnificently, is more urgent now than ever and this has become an empowering and iconic image in our collection.
Alison Smith, chief curator
William Shakespeare, associated with John Taylor, c 1610
This portrait of William Shakespeare, known as the Chandos portrait, is better known to me as NPG 1. The collection code indicates that this was the very first portrait to be acquired by the National Portrait Gallery when it was founded in 1856. It’s also an important historical document, as this is the only portrait of Shakespeare that has a good claim to have been painted from life. Thought to have been painted by John Taylor, the work has gone on to inspire every known depiction of Shakespeare.
Självporträtt, Åkersberga (“Self-portrait”) by Everlyn Nicodemus, 1982
Throughout our closure, we’ve been making a real effort to acquire more works by female artists as part of our Reframing Narratives: Women in Portraiture project. This portrait by Everlyn Nicodemus was a milestone moment for that project, being the first painted self-portrait by a Black female artist to enter the gallery’s collection. Through the layering of multiple faces, the artist contemplates herself from co-existing perspectives that suggest the different experiences and feelings that inform her being.
Sid James by Ruskin Spear, 1962
To me, this collage captures both the funny and sad – how life is made up of grand aspirations and messy little domestic settings. We watch comedian Sid James on television in Hancock’s Half Hour, but also see what looks like an invitation to the opening of a Henry Moore exhibition, a protest flyer from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, as well as adverts for colds, flu and rheumatism remedies on the coffee table. Maybe we’ll just stay in by the telly.
Louise Jane Jopling by Sir John Everett Millais, 1879
John Everett Millais was one of the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and is perhaps best known for his painting Ophelia, which is part of Tate’s collection, but this portrait of Louise Jane Jopling shows Millais working in a much more intimate style. Jopling gazes confidently out at the viewer, reminding me more of Manet’s aesthetic than the Pre-Raphaelites’. The sitting that produced this portrait was informal and an act of long-established friendship, which makes this portrait special.
Sarah Biffin by Sarah Biffin, c 1820
Sarah Biffin, also known as Beffin, was a Victorian miniature painter, who was born without arms or legs, a condition known as phocomelia. She taught herself to paint using her mouth and rose to fame as a portrait painter. Her story has largely been overlooked by historians, which is why I’m so excited to be displaying this new acquisition – a self-portrait by Biffin alongside portraits created by the most famous miniaturists, including Isaac Oliver and Ozias Humphry.
