News  Icons and Idols

The National Portrait Gallerys role over the past 25 years in commissioning portraits of celebrated individuals is being revealed in a new exhibition, Icons and Idols: Commissioning Contemporary Portraits, running from 2 March to 18 June.

The Gallery began commissioning regularly in 1980, and has since added 140 paintings, drawings, sculpture and mixed media works and around 120 photographs to its collections, using a budget set aside to ensure that individuals of whom good portraits were not otherwise available, would be painted. The exhibition focuses on the creation of a portrait and the challenges of making commissions work. It also highlights the impact of the annual BP Portrait Award competition.