Face to Face

Face to Face Issue 66

Director of Development

Sarah Hilliam

Manager

Daniel Hausherr

Copy Editor

Elisabeth Ingles

Designer

Annabel Dalziel

All images

National Portrait Gallery, London and © National Portrait Gallery, London unless stated

npg.org.uk

Gallery Switchboard 020 7306 0055

The Gallery is committed to reducing our environmental impact and this magazine is printed on paper certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council and is fully recyclable.

Photo: Marysa Dowling

Dr Nicholas Cullinan

by the time you read this , we will be entering into the fifth month of construction of the Inspiring People project. Your support is key to our future and the success of our Inspiring People project in particular, so I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the important role you are playing.

This spring, we are pleased to share with you an insight into more of the work that underpins Inspiring People. Liz Smith, Director of Learning and Engagement, guides us through some of the learning activities funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This includes our schools programme, Faces and Places; Creative Connections, engaging with portraiture to interpret people and places throughout the country; and the recently expanded Skills and Knowledge Exchange, which shares best practice with partners across the museums sector.

Of course, the Gallery could not do its other work without the generous funding that we receive from Members, individual donors and corporate partners. In March, we were delighted to announce a major new partnership with CHANEL which will enhance the representation of women in our Collection. Lydia Miller, CHANEL Fund Assistant Curator, tells us about her research at the beginning of this important three-year project. We also shine a light on the American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery. Rummana Naqvi, Head of Individual Giving, shares with us the importance of the generous work they do on

our behalf from across the ocean. I would also like to announce that Sarah Hilliam has recently joined the Gallery as our new Director of Development. Sarah came to us following her success at the Royal Academy with the renewal of their site for the institution’s 250th anniversary. Sarah will introduce herself to you in the next issue of Face to Face

The Gallery recently began a collaboration with the Forever Project, a new venture creating digital content. Sarah Coward, their founder and CEO, tells us about a new digital portrait with the musician Nile Rodgers where both viewer and sitter interact. It’s great to see portraiture taking its place in the vanguard of digital engagement.

Imogen Haines, International Projects Manager, also updates us on her work to share our exhibitions internationally and explains how this work has changed during Covid-19.

Finally, one of our great friends, a former Trustee and an adviser on the Inspiring People project, Sir Christopher Le Brun, tells us about his favourite portrait.

We hope that you are all keeping safe and well. Thank you again for your invaluable support of the National Portrait Gallery at this pivotal moment in our history.

Dr Nicholas Cullinan director

MY FAVOURITE PORTRAIT

by Sir Christopher Le Brun Painter, printmaker and sculptor

when sir thomas lawrence died aged sixty in 1830, this remarkable and moving portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, remained unfinished. Lawrence became the Royal Academy’s fourth President in 1820, the first to wear the medal given by King George IV and worn by every President since. In 2019, as the 26th President, I invited Charles Wellesley, the 9th Duke, to the Royal Academy Archive to see the correspondence between Lawrence and his illustrious forebear. His elucidation of its contents from his family knowledge bore witness to the vital continuity of British art and history. Lawrence collected Old Master Drawings obsessively, to the point

below left Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1829 (NPG 7032)

that he died bankrupt. The studio contents included a painting paid for but never delivered, and someone was despatched to collect it before the executors could intervene. In a further twist, Lawrence had kept the sword worn at the battle of Waterloo fifteen years earlier.

The painting combines two apparently opposing qualities of steady formal pose and mobile informal structure, which gives it a rare liveliness and psychological complexity. Commissioned by Sarah Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey, she insisted (despite Lawrence’s assistants offering to finish it) that it remain as it was. Perhaps this reveals a certain tendresse, as if the painting with its raw constituents – linen, charcoal, paint – still exposed, yet about to change, contained for her his living presence: as if completion might consign him too soon to the cool and final embrace of history.

Sir Christopher Le Brun was born in Portsmouth in 1951; he trained at the Slade and Chelsea Schools of Art in London. He has served as a trustee of many major British art institutions, including the National Portrait Gallery. In 2000 he was commissioned by the Gallery to paint a portrait of George Steiner. Elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1996, he subsequently served as President from 2011 to 2019, overseeing the most significant redevelopment in the Academy’s 250-year history, and is widely acknowledged as having revitalised its reputation. He was awarded a knighthood in the 2021 New Year Honours List for services to art.

Photo © Anne-Katrin Purkiss

TOURING AGAINST THE ODDS by Imogen

Haines

International Projects Manager and Ellie Alexander

International Programmes Assistant

it ’ s been a busy time for International Programmes, delivering an exciting schedule of global exhibitions while battling both Brexit changes and Covid 19-imposed restrictions. The Conservation and Art Handling teams have been working brilliantly to tight deadlines, preparing some of our most celebrated portraits for display in Icons and Identities at the National Museum of Korea this month. This international collaboration will establish strong cultural links with a major institution while showcasing personalities from the Collection in a new thematic light. From William Shakespeare to Malala Yousafzai, the exhibition highlights

below left

Transport Agents loading works on to a Tokyo bound freight plane for Tudors to Windsors

© Raffaele Calise, Constantine

below

Art handlers at the Royal Ueno Museum installing Queen Elizabeth I by an unknown English artist for Tudors to Windsors © Fuji TV

key figures in British history, allowing the Gallery to continue inspiring during its major redevelopment and enabling visitors from all over the world to benefit from our rich collection of works. This is a snapshot of what we do within International Programmes, and even in non-pandemic times our work requires a great amount of detailed planning and teamwork behind the scenes.

It’s not just Icons and Identities that has kept the teams busy over the past few months. The Royal Ueno Museum in Tokyo was able to host our Tudors to Windsors exhibition back in October, which was a huge achievement amidst the second wave of the pandemic. We are now very pleased to announce its opening at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, in May. This is a unique opportunity to see the exhibition in the UK and we encourage all Members to come along and enjoy a selection of works portraying the rich history of British monarchy told through the lives of five royal dynasties.

ART OF LONDON

by Mark Williams

Director of Destination Marketing @ Heart of London Business Alliance

The Gallery’s building on St Martin’s Place, between Trafalgar and Leicester Squares, sits right at the centre of London’s West End. We work closely with the Heart of London Business Alliance on many initiatives and here their Director of Destination Marketing, Mark Williams, talks about the new cultural strategy for the area.

in 2020 we appointed cultural placemaking agency Futurecity to develop a cultural strategy for London’s West End. Work began pre-pandemic but we developed the strategy throughout the series of lockdowns and restrictions. Now, as we can begin to explore and experience our great city again, it’s worth reminding ourselves of the importance of the arts and cultural sector as a critical economic generator and dynamic identity marker for the West End.

Since launching the strategy in September we have begun our new Art of London initiative that will bring to life the strategy as framework for partnership work and ongoing marketing activation.

Art of London showcases art in every form, 24/7, behind the legendary doors of institutions, theatres and retail, flowing through the area’s streets and lanes, to create an exceptional ‘Gallery Without Walls’ with a season of public art launching summer 2021.

Heart of London Business Alliance

Since 2001 Heart of London Business Alliance has been cementing London’s position as the world’s leading cultural destination by working on behalf of over 500 businesses and 100 property owners in the main areas of the West End.

Home to galleries, theatres, restaurants, cafés, bars, worldfamous shops, cultural institutions and associations, the area is truly unique with an experience-based economy that caters to every taste. From the BAFTA headquarters to the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Academy of Art, the area’s cultural heritage stretches back centuries yet it remains at the forefront of the arts.

The not-for-profit Heart of London Business Alliance is focused on securing the long-term commercial wellbeing of the area. Through area promotion, business support and advocacy it champions members’ interests and ensures the West End remains truly world-class.

Art of London – www.artoflondon.co.uk Social Media @theartofldn

Mark Williams is part of the senior leadership team at HOLBA leading on destination marketing, events and cultural strategy for some of the most iconic areas of London’s West End including Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Piccadilly & St James’s and St Martin’s.

To get involved in Art of London please email Mark.williams@heartoflondonbid.co.uk

In this age of experiential culture, we seek originality and authenticity, as well as new modes of engaging audiences in a diverse cultural journey.

Art of London celebrates the transformative power of art and culture and will highlight London’s place at the epicentre of cultural expression, in the past, the present and into the future.

We’ve developed five principles for Art of London to guide our work:

1.

A Cultural District for London

Art of London will showcase a diverse ecosystem of creative individuals and cultural organisations producing world-renowned art, craft, fashion, food, plus trail-blazing cultural experiences and ideas.

2.

Gallery Without Walls

Gallery Without Walls is a physical and intellectual idea, transforming the West End urban realm into a place for original creative expression. It explores how we can engage in creative dialogue and experiences, artefacts and projects outside the gallery, museum or studio. Culture is the key to unlocking the seductive power of city space and acts as a catalyst and tool for defining the area’s individuality. A Gallery Without Walls will let you experience the West End with eyes wide open, paving the way for more dynamic, responsive interpretations of the urban environment through culture.

3. Original & Bespoke Culture

Art of London stimulates the creation of original and challenging cultural outputs, whether a new production, a gallery launch, a new product or event or a cutting-edge piece of research – fostering creativity and driving innovation.

4. Participation & Inclusion

Art of London connects the West End’s cultural offer, enhances participation and encourages greater engagement. We support events, experiences and projects that invite and involve new audiences and contribute to a total programme for the area that is inclusive and accessible year-round. We seek to develop a welcoming environment for everyone – residents, workers and visitors.

5. Art in Every Form

Art in Every Form embraces the skill and intelligence that goes into all aspects of cultural life in the area, from fashion and the culinary arts to theatre and business. It promotes cultural expression made visible across all media and artforms and across all art and business platforms. Art of London encourages collaboration across the area’s unique artistic range of performing arts (dance, theatre, music); media arts (photography, film, digital, immersive); visual and fine arts (craft, painting, sculpture, installation); design (architectural, product and environmental design), and artisanal excellence (food, haberdashery, tailoring, antiquarian, booksellers).

Photo © Paul Tanner

THE ACTIVITY PLAN

by Liz Smith Director of Learning and Engagement

a key priority for the gallery in the forthcoming period is the development and delivery of an ambitious Activity Plan. The plan is a central part of the Inspiring People project and is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and other funders. Unfolding over the next three years, the Activity Plan provides the Gallery with a oncein-a-generation opportunity to transform our way of working with and developing audiences to become more audience-focused. Its ambitious programme is being delivered through extensive partnerships in Greater London and in England and Wales.

Moving forward, the Gallery has a major role to play in championing diversity and inclusion by working with groups that are currently under-represented to break down barriers to access and increase participation.

below left

Primary school session, ‘What is a Portrait’, 2018

The work delivered in the Plan will enable us to build relevance with audiences, inform new learning programmes, create regional displays and exhibitions, and produce digital content and resources. This will go on to inform future thinking in learning and engagement and deliver the ambition to bring the Gallery closer to communities across the UK.

We will be collaborating with small heritage organisations, large regional museum services, schools, universities and a wide range of artists, filmmakers and community organisations across the country. The ambition is to position the Gallery as leader in its field for learning and engagement activity and support new ways of exploring biography, telling stories and understanding portraiture when we re-open.

Over the next pages members of the team give more detail about some of the Activity Plan projects and plans.

Photo: Simon Mooney

Photo: Marysa Dowling

PEOPLE POWERED –PUTTING A FACE TO INDUSTRY

by Emily Stone

Inspiring People Participation Manager

people powered searches for the stories of significant figures and individuals involved in some of Britain’s important industries. Over three years the Gallery is taking a fresh look at archive and Collection material to capture untold stories from workers with a living memory of their local industries. We will explore Wembley Stadium with Brent Museum & Archives, Elstree Studios with the University of Hertfordshire, Heathrow Airport with the University of West London, Ilford Photographic Ltd with Redbridge Museum & Heritage Centre and the industries around the River Tees with Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. At each location an experienced artist alongside a group of local young people will record oral histories, and through filmmaking or photography produce a new artwork to feature in an exhibition at each site. Local primary schools will be invited to explore the displays, gaining a rich picture of their local heritage.

We’re starting with From the Ground Up at Wembley Stadium. The iconic venue is synonymous with many famous names including footballing great Bobby Moore, boxing legend Frank Bruno and music star Freddie Mercury. These figures have used their platform connected to Wembley to inspire, and we follow on with those who have worked within Wembley, such as the grounds keeper, kit manager or travel booker. The aim is to capture the ecology of Wembley Stadium and how the space influences and shapes different careers and ambitions.

King is the founder and CEO of MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Organisation. The MOBO Awards have provided early platforms for many British artists and the ceremony remains one of the most prestigious events in the international music calendar, with Wembley Stadium hosting several award ceremonies over the years.

below

Brent Museum & Archives holds the Wembley Park collection featuring ephemera from the old stadium such as some of the iconic red seats and original music posters. They will go on display along with existing portraits and a series of short films sharing experiences and personal accounts of the venue, old and new.

From the Ground Up will be on display at the Library at Willesden Green, 6 September–3 December 2021.

With thanks to our partners: Brent Museum & Archives, University of Hertfordshire, University of West London, Redbridge Museum & Heritage Centre, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.

People Powered is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund.

Kanya King (detail) by Bryan Adams, 7 February 2008

© Bryan Adams (NPG x131979)

CREATIVE CONNECTIONS

by Helen Whiteoak Head of Programmes & Engagement

as part of inspiring people , we are delivering Creative Connections around the country, working in partnership with the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry, Sheffield Museums Trust, Newlyn Art Gallery and Southampton City Gallery. This national project aims to connect young people, schools and teachers to their local cultural organisations and create new ways of engaging with notions of identity, culture and community.

Creative Connections National builds on a project model developed in London (2012–16) with four contemporary artists working in collaboration with four schools across the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Camden, Ealing and Lambeth & Southwark. Discovering inspirational people in the Gallery’s Collection that have a connection to their local neighbourhood is an empowering way for

Creative Connections is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund and the generous support of the Palley Family.

young people to explore and express their own sense of history and identity; develop their confidence and creative skills; and build a sense of local pride.

In Coventry, Sheffield, Newlyn and Southampton, a contemporary artist will work with a local school and its students studying Art GCSE to research the Gallery’s Collection and respond creatively, making new work to be exhibited at each partner gallery alongside the works from the Collection that inspired them. Accompanying each exhibition, there will be a vibrant programme of events for schools, families and young people to engage new and diverse audiences. The collaborative spirit at the heart of the project includes skills sharing and practice between institutions; and vital collaboration with each artist. We aim to deliver the projects this year with exhibitions planned for 2022 and 2023.

Photo: Simon Mooney

FACES AND PLACES

SCHOOLS OUTREACH

PROGRAMME 2021–22

by Francesca Laws Schools Manager

during the gallery ’ s closure , schools will engage with our portraits through a new outreach programme, Faces and Places, as part of the Inspiring People project. The programme will enable primary and secondary pupils in seven London boroughs to explore art, artists and history through a specially designed resource box and accompanying workshops.

The programme will take place in the London boroughs of Brent, Lambeth, Haringey, Westminster, Lewisham, Barking & Dagenham and Waltham Forest during 2021–22. In each borough, seven schools will take part in a term-long programme. A resource box specific to each borough will contain portraits of ten inspiring people associated with that locality, and activities and teachers’ notes for schools to explore the lives and impact of people portrayed.

Through Faces and Places, students and teachers will discover the diversity of the Gallery’s Collection and explore identity, representation and history through discussion, research and making. The project will familiarise pupils with the stories of significant people associated with their area and aims to promote community pride and connect schools with their regional and national history through portraiture. One of the planned activities is for children to explore who their local heroes are in the present day, and how we choose to remember them.

Several of the portraits featured in Faces and Places will be loaned to Brent Museum and Archives from December 2021 until February 2022 for a connected display celebrating cultural icons in Brent.

Through Faces and Places the Gallery will build relationships with new schools as well as those who already know us, to inspire students and teachers to visit once the Gallery re-opens in 2023 with a revitalised offer for schools.

In early 2020 engagement with Brent schools began as part of the Brent 2020 London Borough of Culture. Schools voted for the ten portraits to include in Brent’s Faces and Places resource box: the portraits selected include musician Courtney Pine, actor, musician and activist Riz Ahmed, nurse and adventurer Mary Seacole, writer Zadie Smith, and footballer Rachel Yankey.

below

Courtney Pine by Liam Woon, 5 August 1988

© Liam Woon (NPG x126762)

PICTURING HISTORY

by Liz Smith Director of Learning and Engagement

with its unique collection , the National Portrait Gallery has long had the ambition to be the national education resource for Art and History in schools: to provide more than a day trip for students and reach into all classrooms across the country to support and extend curriculum learning. The increased demand for digital learning content has been brought into sharper focus by Covid-19, a trend that is very likely to continue.

Picturing History will be a brand-new digital offer for schools when the Gallery re-opens in 2023. It will use the stories of 100 key sitters in the Collection and the artists that

portrayed them as a springboard to tell the ‘big’ stories from British history. It will provide a facilitated introduction to this history through portraiture, representing key moments and achievements right up to the present day, with films, resources and practical guides on subjects as wide-ranging as the Tudors, the First World War, the Victorians, the Suffragettes and Self-Portraiture.

Housed primarily on the Gallery’s website, the material will augment and support the on-site and off-site learning experience, with a particular focus on skills, knowledge and understanding in Art and History. It will provide a destination where schools, teachers and young people can go to connect with the key stories, significant individuals, influential groups and ideas represented in the Collection in relevant and accessible ways, mapped to local and national curricula. As an ongoing resource it will be updated and added to on a regular basis.

Octavia Hill was a social reformer who is now best known for co-founding the National Trust in 1895. This remarkable achievement was equalled by her philanthropic work to improve the homes of the poor and campaign for social and housing reform.

Octavia Hill by John Singer Sargent, 1898 (NPG 1746)

Conservator examining a work in Room 1

PROFESSIONALS THROUGH A NATIONAL SKILLS PARTNERSHIP

by Laura Down Head of National Programmes

sharing knowledge and skills , and learning from each other, will come together in a national skills partnership programme. Twelve museums and galleries from across the country, and the National Portrait Gallery as the thirteenth partner, will explore areas of interest to their teams with the aim of benefiting their audiences and caring for the collections they hold.

The Programme comes at a time when the National Portrait Gallery finds itself in the unique position of revisiting all its activities as part of the Inspiring People project, from re-interpreting collections and developing new learning-focused partnerships, to exploring ways for the transformed Gallery building to operate. This provides the perfect time to learn from other organisations to make the new Gallery as strong as it can be and to share

the knowledge and skills it holds and gains along this journey.

At the heart of the programme are the development opportunities for staff from all thirteen partners including placements, mentoring, paid internships, peer-to-peer knowledge exchanges and seminars. Not least, each partner will work with the Gallery’s Collection to show portraits in their museums and galleries that connect to the themes in the new Inspiring People displays.

National Skills Partners: The Box, Plymouth; Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury; The Ulster Museum, Belfast; Nottingham Castle; Glyn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Northampton Museums & Art Gallery; Beaney House of Art & Knowledge, Canterbury; The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle; Hay Castle Trust, Hay on Wye; Compton Verney Art Gallery & Park, Warwickshire; Watts Gallery Artists’ Village, Compton; Derby Museums; the National Portrait Gallery

Photo: Sophie Colley

WOMEN, WOMEN, WOMEN!

by Dr Flavia Frigeri

CHANEL Curator for the Collection and Lydia Miller

Assistant Curator, Cross-Collections

the national portrait gallery Collection comprises 17,629 women sitters (compared with 53,481 men) and represents a variety of diverse backgrounds and professions, spanning five hundred years of history. Artists, actresses, athletes, dancers, doctors, explorers, law-makers, monarchs, philanthropists, politicians, scientists, social reformers and writers are among the many fields in which women have excelled, and yet – how visible are these women?

below far left

Emmeline Pankhurst’s arrest at Buckingham Palace by Central Press, 22 May 1914 (NPG x137688)

In partnership with CHANEL, the ‘Missing Narratives’ project aims to bring women to the forefront of the National Portrait Gallery Collection. This three-year project will significantly impact the proportion of women artists and sitters on display at the National Portrait Gallery when it re-opens in 2023, and a series of exciting activities and research projects will highlight the individual stories of some of the most influential women in British history. We will also be acquiring new works for the Collection by commissioning portraits below left

Self-portrait by Gluck, 1942 (NPG 6462)

of trail-blazing contemporary women, and by purchasing photographs of women not yet represented. Throughout this project, we will be challenging traditional conceptions of women’s careers and how we think about them in relation to their male counterparts, by uncovering alternative networks of exchange and illuminating the cultural, institutional, social and political factors that shape difference – including class, race, gender and sexuality.

This project is still in its infancy but we have already commissioned a series of filmed interviews with pioneering women of today which were released throughout March in celebration of Women’s History Month. These women include: lead scientist on the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine Sarah Gilbert, founder of the MOBO Awards Kanya King, actress Helena Bonham Carter, former Principal of The Royal Ballet Zenaida Yanowsky, and period poverty campaigner Amika George. These talks are available on our website and through our social media channels.

We have also been working on a series of Walking Tours which are being released to the public to coincide with the easing of lockdown restrictions throughout April. These walks are free, accessible and self-guided. Each tour aims to take you on a historical journey through central London to discover some of the most pioneering and inspirational women in British history, who all lived and worked in

the capital. We’ve initially stayed quite close to home with three tours for you to enjoy: St James’s, Mayfair, and Fitzrovia and Bloomsbury.

Our St James’s walk includes the history of Pocahontas and her connection to the Court of James I, as well as the story behind the nineteenth-century computing pioneer Ada Lovelace. You will discover when and why vitamins and minerals were initially added to our food, and how seven million women contributed to the war effort in World War II. Artists on this tour include the unnervingly realistic wax sculptor Patience Lovell Wright, and Mary Delany who made 1,000 paper flowers, starting at the age of seventy.

The Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia walk is, of course, linked to the literary and artistic Bloomsbury Group, with stops including Vanessa Bell and the Omega Workshops, and Virginia Woolf. However, you will also stand outside the first women’s higher education college in Britain, learn about the secret agent Noor Inayat Khan, and the first Briton in space … yes, it was a woman! Contemporary artist Arielle Tse makes an audio guest appearance to tell us about her sculpture ‘I am rooted but I flow’.

Mayfair includes a selection of experimental women photographers including Madame Yevonde, who pioneered the Vivex colour process. We will celebrate the work of modern British artist and trail-blazer of gender fluidity,

Gluck, as well as lawyer, social reformer and writer Cornelia Sorabji, the first woman to study law at Oxford. Finally, prepare to be entertained by the captivating Josephine Baker – dancer, entertainer, French Resistance agent, and a civil rights activist.

The ‘Missing Narratives’ project is already off to a flying start but this is only the beginning. Our diverse and unparalleled collection of female portraits at the National Portrait Gallery will lend inspiration to online exhibitions, talks and conferences, and publications over this three-year project.

Dorothy Hodgkin by Maggi Hambling, 1985 (NPG 5797)

NILE RODGERS, FACE TO FACE IN YOUR LIVING ROOM

by Sarah Coward Founder, Forever

‘ it was fantastic . I really felt like I was talking to him.’ This was one of many comments received when we were testing our new interactive portrait of music icon Nile Rodgers, now accessible on the National Portrait Gallery’s website. It has been so rewarding to see the reactions from people who will never have the chance to meet Nile in person, and it gives an indication of the power of this new form of experience.

In March, Forever collaborated with the Gallery to launch In The Room With Nile Rodgers, the world’s first voice interactive digital portrait. This new conversational experience recreates an encounter with Nile using authentic and extensive footage. It enables people to ‘meet’ Nile and interview him, from any device, wherever they are. Seeing Nile in front of you, with all his personality and warmth, you can ask questions using your voice and explore hundreds of insights from a lifetime in music.

Nile Rodgers was a natural choice for this first digital portrait. The three-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist, singer-songwriter, producer, composer and co-founder of the legendary band Chic has worked with almost every top musician for the last thirty years. To give audiences the opportunity to engage with a legend of his status, one-on-one, in an intimate and authentic setting, opens up vast new possibilities for access to learning, insight and inspiration.

The project is the result of complex production processes, not least of which was the curation of hundreds of questions posed to Nile himself. Working with a range of partners, from music experts at Abbey Road Studios (Nile’s self-proclaimed London home) and Nile superfans, to students from Restore the Music, a charity providing young people with music opportunities, we could develop a deep understanding of people’s interests in Nile’s life and reflect that in filming.

The project was highly technical, with hours of footage recorded over two days using 8k 3D filming techniques and a specialist crew. The Forever team asked Nile more than 300 in-depth questions about his life, his extraordinary career and the many artists he’s worked with, from David Bowie and Diana Ross to Lady Gaga and Madonna. The AI technology learns from users, so answers get more precise as more questions are asked. But for fans, who simply hold a button and speak to ask Nile a question in real time, it is an intuitive, human experience that gives an intimate insight into the man himself.

(In fact, it is so human that some people told us they felt nervous when Nile joined them!)

In The Room With Nile Rodgers was originally planned to launch as a VR installation and progress online, but the sequence was reversed when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, to ensure the experience could be accessed at home.

With so much uncertainty for the future, experiences that enable human connection online can only go from strength to strength. However, creating experiences that are meaningful and authentic is vital. This isn’t about deep-fakes or creating the illusion of human interaction: it is about bringing the rich insights and recollections held by a remarkable person to a wider audience in a deeply personal way. We look forward to bringing rich new portraits to the public and enabling people to connect as never before.

The experience is available at hereintheroom. com and through the Gallery’s website npg.org.uk/visit/in-the-room-with-nilerodgers. Anyone can try it free, with access to extended content available with an online pass costing £20, 5% of which goes to the Gallery.

Sarah Coward is Founder and CEO of Forever Holdings Ltd, the company behind In The Room With Nile Rodgers – the world’s first voice interactive portrait. Sarah previously worked at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum, digitally preserving the testimony of Holocaust survivors for future generations.

A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

by Rummana Naqvi Head of Individual Giving and Rowen Hunt Philanthropy Manager

I first came to love the National Portrait Gallery, with its unique focus on historical and contemporary portraits, during the decade I lived in London. Now that I am back in America I realize how important the National Portrait Gallery is as a model for portrait galleries around the world. I think it especially important that we in America continue to support the mothership and its vibrant programming linking past and present.

MARGARET CONKLIN , President of the Board of American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery

the national portrait gallery holds one of the world’s largest collections of portraits. As part of our commitment to sharing the stories of the men and women who have made and are making Britain what it is today, we regularly loan work to arts institutions across the globe for temporary displays and special exhibitions, bringing our unique Collection to diverse audiences around the world.

Our expanding international reach is supported by a loyal base of generous donors, who support the Gallery through the American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery (AFNPG), an independent charitable organisation based in New York. The AFNPG aim to encourage appreciation and understanding of the art of portraiture, by supporting our varied activity and collaboration with American arts and academic institutions. This support has helped us to broaden awareness of our Collection in the United States, ultimately strengthening appreciation of American and British citizens’ common artistic heritage. Founded in 1989, the American Friends organisation has an

active board and continues to play a vital role in raising the profile of the National Portrait Gallery in the United States and abroad.

The Gallery’s curatorial exchange with America has always been strong, highlighted by exhibitions such as Michael Jackson: On the Wall in 2018, exploring the influence of the American popstar, and touring shows such as David Hockney: Drawing From Life, on display at the Morgan Library in New York City until 30 May 2021.

Our Collection holds many portraits of individuals with an American connection, illuminating the well-documented, longstanding relationship between Britain and America throughout history: from luminary author Henry James, the US-born novelist best remembered for his command of the English language and his exploration of the conflict between American and European attitudes in works such as Portrait of a Lady and The Golden Bowl, to the American actress Marilyn Monroe, whose lasting influence on British popular culture can be examined through

below top

below bottom

Marilyn Monroe and Cecil Beaton by Ed Pfizenmaier, 22 February 1956

numerous images of her captured by British photographers, from Cecil Beaton to Baron (Sterling Henry Nahum) and lesser-known society portraitist Antony Beauchamp.

The AFNPG make a significant difference to what the Gallery is able to achieve. As part of our international family of supporters, our American Friends have been a part of some of the most memorable moments in the Gallery’s recent history. From momentous acquisitions such as the self-portrait of van Dyck, to, more recently, our Inspiring People transformation project, gifts to the AFNPG make a valuable contribution to the National Portrait Gallery, championing the breadth of shared achievement, influence and legacy on both sides of the Atlantic, as reflected in our Collection.

If you are interested in supporting the American Friends of the National Portrait Gallery, or would like to hear more about a tax-effective way of contributing to our work through a 501(c)(3) registered charity, please contact Rowen Hunt, Philanthropy Manager, at rhunt@npg.org.uk

Henry James by John Singer Sargent, 1913 (NPG 1767)

Summer offer for Gallery Supporters

A SPECIAL PREVIEW OF HOLD STILL

We are delighted to present Members and Patrons with an extract from the introduction by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge to Hold Still: A Portrait of our Nation in 2020, our new book which creates a unique collective portrait of the UK during lockdown through 100 images.

‘When we look back at the COVID-19 pandemic in decades to come, we will think of the challenges we all faced – the loved ones we lost, the extended isolation from our families and friends and the strain placed on our key workers. But we will also remember the positives: the incredible acts of kindness, the helpers and heroes who emerged from all walks of life, and how together we adapted to a new normal.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to some of the photographers and sitters, to hear their stories first-hand – from moments of joy, love and community spirit, to deep sadness, pain, isolation and loss.

A common theme of those conversations was how lockdown reminded us about the importance of human connection and the huge value we place on the relationships we have with the people around us. Although we were physically apart, these images remind us that, as families, communities and as a nation we need each other more than we had ever realised.’

Hold Still: A Portrait of our Nation in 2020 will be available online at npgshop.org.uk from 7 May 2021 priced at £24.95.

Gallery Supporters enjoy a discount of 20% in our online shop, including all new publications: to redeem use the online discount code MEMBER2020.

The net proceeds from the sale of the book will be equally split to support the work of the National Portrait Gallery and Mind, the mental health charity (registered 219830).

above right

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge

– HRH THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE