Mary, Queen of Scots, Lord Nelson, King Charles II, artist L.S. Lowry and new England captain Rio Ferdinand have been chosen as the faces of the National Portrait Gallery's most recent marketing campaign, launched on posters, ads and bus shelters from today, which highlights the hidden stories behind its portraits of well known Britons.
The campaign called ‘Take another look’ is designed to encourage more people to explore the wide range of portraits in the Gallery's free-admission permanent Collection. The National portrait gallery believes that unexpected facts and biography associated with portraits are one of the reason why they are so enjoyable. ‘Take another look’ will focus purely on providing just that.
Some unexpected facts revealed in the exhibition are as follower: football defender Rio Ferdinand is revealed as a former dancer of the Central School of Ballet; Scottish ruler and Catholic martyr, Mary, Queen of Scots, was also a talented golfer; visionary artist L.S. Lowry was a rent collector, King Charles II helped put out the flames of the Fire of London and nautical genius Horatio Nelson happened to be a nauseous sailor!
Rio Ferdinand is pictured in the campaign not on the football pitch but sinking into a large, dark orange leather chair with arms outstretched, relaxed but with a fixed gaze. He wears grey trousers, waistcoat and a white shirt with rolled up sleeves and is photographed dramatically from above in a studio by Mark Guthrie. The sitting took place in Manchester on 18 March 2009 and the portrait is on display at the Gallery having been acquired for its permanent Collection. Ferdinand's seated pose is echoed by one of the Gallery's other choices for the campaign, King Charles II, who is pictured on a throne in ceremonial splendour in a painting by Thomas Hawker.
Using works of art in the Gallery's Collection, the campaign shows artist L.S. Lowry not in his well-known 'matchstick men' painting style, but in a startling self-portrait where he stares out disconcertingly at the viewer with large bloodshot eyes. It is one of a series of grief-stricken self-portraits painted while caring for his bed-ridden mother. Mary, Queen of Scots is shown in a magnificent painting by Nicholas Hilliard and Lord Nelson appears in the iconic portrait by Sir William Beechey.
With its bus shelter posters and print advertisements and large banners outside the Gallery, the campaign, which has been developed for the Gallery by design agency True North, reveals a selection of 'surprising facts' about a cross-section of famous sitters whose portraits are on display in the Gallery.
Take another look uses both 'long story' and 'short fact' versions at appropriately placed poster sites around the London, together with print and online versions and, for the first time, a media partnership with The History Channel
Famous subjects featured in the first part of the campaign last June were singer (and florist) Lily Allen, musician (and cheese maker) Alex James, jazz musician (and fisherman) George Melly, statesman (and prisoner) Winston Churchill, nurse (and hotelier) Mary Seacole and war secretary (and knitting pioneer) Lord Kitchener. During the periods that the campaign ran in 2009, visitor figures were up 25%.
Denise Ellitson, Head of Marketing at the National Portrait Gallery, London, says: "Research has shown us that visitors really enjoy the mix of old and new portraiture on display at the Gallery and we hope that this new campaign will encourage those who have not visited before to discover the diversity and relevance of our Collections."
Martin Carr, True North Managing Director, says: "The task of 'opening up' such a well-loved institution has been one we've relished. We've worked hard with Gallery staff to eke out a range of good stories for this campaign - it's been great fun layering on witty and enjoyable stories over all styles of portraits of all kind of famous Britons."
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