The Queen: Art And Image

To mark The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the National Portrait Gallery will stage an innovative touring exhibition bringing together 60 of the most remarkable and resonant images of Elizabeth II spanning the 60 years of her reign - some on public display for the first time.

The Queen: Art and Image will be the most wide-ranging exhibition of images in different media devoted to a single royal sitter. Formal painted portraits, official photographs, media pictures, and powerful responses by contemporary artists will be shown in an exhibition which explores both traditional representations and works which extend the visual language of royal portraiture.

Documenting the changing nature of representations of the Monarch, the exhibition will show how images serve as a lens through which to view shifting perceptions of royalty.

This perspective reflects changes in the social scene and historical context, and the exhibition highlights important developments and events: from The Queen’s relationship with the press and the miner’s strike, to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the advent of new technology.

This textured view of the period is supplemented by archival material – from newspapers to film footage, postage stamps to consumer ephemera.