Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts has just opened a new exhibition
featuring portraits from as recent as Princes William and Harry to
as far back as the Tudors.
The 150 images span over five centuries as was created in
partnership with the National Portrait Gallery in London which lent
a number of portraits that have never been seen in the United
States.
The exhibition’s co-curator David Bomford, who also acts as chair
of the Department of Conservation at the UK’s National Gallery,
spoke to CNN about the importance of the show: “The monarchs are
the history of the country, and what they achieved — or what they
failed to achieve — is the story of the nation,” he said.
Adding on: “(The exhibition is) about character and personality,
and what these monarchs were like as human beings. We’re trying to
cover the personal, the political and the historical.”
The exhibition starts with the Tudors, including pieces
by Hans Holbein the Younger of Henry VIII and Marcus
Gheeraerts the Younger’s depiction of Elizabeth I.
“Before that, royal portraits were not realistic, they were
just generic depictions of majesty.
“But with the Tudors we begin to get accurate portraits —
actual likenesses of real people.”
On Elizabeth I, Bomford said: “She never married a person
— she married the country. And so she’s depicted in white clothing
because she’s the bride of her nation. There’s a huge amount of
propaganda going on.”
From the Tudors to the royals we love today, the collection
includes Andy Warhol’s famous creation of Queen Elizabeth II.
The show takes a turn from artists impressions to photographs
as photography became more commonly used.
“The family of Queen Victoria and (her husband) Prince Albert was
the first royal family that was recorded in photographs, and Albert
encouraged the taking of informal photographs,” Bomford
commented.
“But he wanted to show that they were just like any other family in
the country, a sort of middle class concept of a family, and he
deliberately manipulated the photographs — or what they recorded —
to give this impression.”
Other well-known pieces include Terence Donovan’s
photograph of Diana, Princess of Wales and Annie Leibovitz’s
capture of Queen Elizabeth.
You can see Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits
from Holbein to Warhol at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
until 27 January 2019.
