Audrey Hepburn at the National Portrait Gallery
Audrey Hepburn at the National Portrait Gallery
The astonishing film star, fashion icon and humanitarian; that is, Audrey Hepburn is to be given her own exhibition.
Audrey Hepburn photographed wearing Givenchy by Norman
Parkinson, 1955 © Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman
Parkinson Archive
Right in the heart of London, at the National Portrait Gallery where Hepburn made her first appearance on stage 65 years previously, is to be transformed into a shrine with a brand new photography exhibition.
Running from the 2nd July until the 18th October; the exhibition will showcase both classic and rarely seen photographs from the collection of the Hepburn family along with iconic portraits of Hepburn by leading photographers of the 20th Century: Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Angus Bean, Irving Penn and Norman Parkinson.
The exhibition entitled “Audrey Hepburn– Portrait of an Icon” will follow the rise to fame, from her early years in Holland and as a dancer and chorus girl in London’s West End, to her becoming a stage and screen icon.
Audrey Hepburn in Rome by Cecil Beaton, 1960
©The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s
Hepburn performed in revues at London’s leading nightclub, Ciro’s; this place is now the setting of the National Portrait Gallery’s public archive and study room.
Ciro’s was a popular place for Hepburn in her 20’s; her performances there lead her to become talent spotted for a number of early British films including:
“One Wild Oat,” “Laughter in Paradise” and “Secret People.”
Hepburn was born in Brussels, Belgium (1929) and was offered a ballet scholarship at the Rambert Ballet School. One of the highlights from the exhibition is Hepburn practicing ballet.
Audrey Hepburn by Angus McBean, October 1950 ©National Portrait Gallery, London
Hepburn has been recognized as one of the most photographed women in the world and this is being displayed through the finest photography such as: Early work in London as a fashion model for photos by Anthony Beauchamp in 1950, rarely seen photos by Mark Shaw- taken during the making of ‘Sabrina’ in 1954, published as a photo essay in Life Magazine as well as beautiful insights to her life on and off screen, captured by Larry Fried.
Curated by Terence Pepper; Senior Special Advisor on photographs and Helen Trompeteler; Associate Curator of photographs; this is one exhibition not to be missed.
Follow one of our most loved silver screen ladies through the years and fall back in love with her as if you were just watching her in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” for the first time.
Audrey Hepburn by Bud Fraker, for ‘Sabrina’, Paramount
Pictures, 1954
Audrey Hepburn at the National Portrait Gallery
I think that Anthony Beauchamp’s photographs of Audrey are what turned her into a star. I have two photographs of Audrey, probably unpublished, which Beauchamp took of her c.1949. I acquired these some years ago among a stack of photographs taken by his mother, Vivienne.