The highest honour a Roman citizen could hope for was a portrait statue in the forum of his city. While the emperor and high senatorial officials were routinely awarded statues, strong competition existed among local benefactors to obtain this honour, which proclaimed and perpetuated the memory of the patron and his family for generations. There were many ways to earn a portrait statue but such local figures often had to wait until they had passed away before the public finally fulfilled their expectations. It is argued in this book that our understanding and contemplation of a Roman portrait statue is greatly enriched, when we consider its wider historical context, its original setting, the circumstances of its production and style, and its base which, in many cases, bore a text that contributed to the rhetorical power of the image.

A unique collective portrait of the United Kingdom during the national lockdown of 2020. Introduction by The Duchess of Cambridge. Text by Lemn Sissay MBE. Sunday Times Bestseller. 'Every bookcase should have this book' 'Beautifully heart-warming' and 'a keepsake for years to come'. Focused on three key themes - Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness, this book presents a unique portrait of the UK during the 2020 lockdown, through 100 community photographs. 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) Spearheaded by The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of the National Portrait Gallery, Hold Still was an ambitious community project to create a unique collective portrait of the UK during lockdown. People of all ages were invited to submit a photographic portrait, taken in a six-week period during May and June 2020, focussed on three core themes - Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness. From these, a panel of judges selected 100 portraits, assessing the images on the emotions and experiences they conveyed. Featured here in this publication, the final 100 images present a unique and highly personal record of this extraordinary period in our history of people of all ages from across the nation. From virtual birthday parties, handmade rainbows and community clapping to brave NHS staff, resilient keyworkers and people dealing with illness, isolation and loss. The images convey humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope - expressing and exploring both our shared and individual experiences. Presenting a true portrait of our nation in 2020, this publication includes a foreword by The Duchess of Cambridge, each image is accompanied by the story behind the picture told through the words of the entrants, and further works show the nationwide outdoor exhibition of Hold Still.

A biography of the great portraitist Frans Hals that takes the reader into the turbulent world of the Dutch Golden Age. Frans Hals was one of the greatest portrait painters in history, and his style transformed ideas and expectations about what portraiture can do and what a painting should look like. Hals was a member of the great trifecta of Dutch Baroque painters alongside Rembrandt and Vermeer, and he was the portraitist of choice for entrepreneurs, merchants, professionals, theologians, intellectuals, militiamen, and even his fellow artists in the Dutch Golden Age. His works, with their visible brush strokes and bold execution, lacked the fine detail and smooth finish common among his peers, and some dismissed his works as sloppy and unfinished. But for others, they were fresh and exciting, filled with a sense of the sitter's animated presence captured with energy and immediacy. Steven Nadler gives us the first full-length biography of Hals in many years and offers a view into seventeenth-century Haarlem and this culturally rich era of the Dutch Republic. He tells the story not only of Hals's life, but also of the artistic, social, political, and religious worlds in which he lived and worked.

A richly illustrated celebration of the paintings of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama From the moment of their unveiling at the National Portrait Gallery in early 2018, the portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama have become two of the most beloved artworks of our time. Kehinde Wiley's portrait of President Obama and Amy Sherald's portrait of the former first lady have inspired unprecedented responses from the public, and attendance at the museum has more than doubled as visitors travel from near and far to view these larger-than-life paintings. After witnessing a woman drop to her knees in prayer before the portrait of Barack Obama, one guard said, "No other painting gets the same kind of reactions. Ever." The Obama Portraits is the first book about the making, meaning, and significance of these remarkable artworks. Richly illustrated with images of the portraits, exclusive pictures of the Obamas with the artists during their sittings, and photos of the historic unveiling ceremony by former White House photographer Pete Souza, this book offers insight into what these paintings can tell us about the history of portraiture and American culture. The volume also features a transcript of the unveiling ceremony, which includes moving remarks by the Obamas and the artists. A reversible dust jacket allows readers to choose which portrait to display on the front cover. An inspiring history of the creation and impact of the Obama portraits, this fascinating book speaks to the power of art-especially portraiture-to bring people together and promote cultural change. Published in association with the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

-- Twenty of the most notorious Florida pirates from the 1500s to the present
-- Meet Sir Francis Drake, Black Caesar, Blackbeard, Jean Lafitte, Jose Gaspar
-- Piracy continues today, though the cargo is more likely to be drugs or other contraband instead of gold and silver
-- A lively read for adults and older children

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2019 SELECTED AS BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, SUNDAY TIMES, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT AND SPECTATOR 'A compendium of high-grade gossip about everyone from Princess Margaret to the Krays, a snapshot of grimy London and a narrative of Freud's career and rackety life and loves ... Leaves the reader itching for more' SUNDAY TIMES, ART BOOK OF THE YEAR Though ferociously private, Lucian Freud spoke every week for decades to his close confidante and collaborator William Feaver - about painting and the art world, but also about his life and loves. The result is this a unique, electrifying biography. In Youth, Feaver conjures Freud's early childhood: Sigmund Freud's grandson, born into a middle-class Jewish family in Weimar Berlin, escaping Nazi Germany in 1934. Following Freud through art school, his time in the Navy during the war, his post-war adventures in Paris and Greece, and his return to Soho - consorting with duchesses and violent criminals, out on the town with Greta Garbo and Princess Margaret - Feaver traces a brilliant, difficult young man's coming of age. 'Brilliant ... Freud would have approved' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Superlative ... packed with stories' GUARDIAN 'Anyone interested in British art needs it' ANDREW MARR, NEW STATESMAN

Self-portraiture shows no sign of losing its ability to capture the public imagination. Given our current proclivity to snap and share 'selfies' in seconds, it is unsurprising to find a renewed interest in the genre among general audiences and students. Self-portraits have the power to illuminate a range of universal concerns, from identity, purpose and authenticity, to frailty, futility and mortality. In this volume, curator Natalie Rudd expertly casts fresh light on the self-portrait and its international appeal, exploring the historical contexts within which self-portraits have proliferated and considering the meanings they hold today. With commentaries on works by artists ranging from Jan van Eyck and Artemisia Gentileschi to Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Jenny Saville, the book explores the emotive and expressive potential of self-portraiture, and its capacities to distance or to demystify. Can self-portraits offer windows into artistic process? Is there ever a singular identity to be captured? Is it necessary for a self-portrait to depict the human form? In her vibrant and timely discussion, Rudd dissects these and other important questions, revealing the shifting faces of individuality and selfhood in an age where we are interrogating notions of personal identity more than ever before. With 97 illustrations in colour

TEXTURES synthesises research in history, fashion, art, and visual culture to reassess the "hair story" of peoples of African descent. A fraught topic for African-Americans and others in the Diaspora, artists, barbers, and activists address the topic of Black hair,both the historical perceptions and its ramifications for self and society today. TEXTURES explores the breadth of Black artists' perspectives on hair vis-a-vis beauty, pride, and politics. Barbers and activists address Black hair, from historical perceptions to its challenges today. Combs, products, and implements from the collection of hair pioneer Willie Morrow are paired with masterworks from artists like David Hammons, Sonya Clark, Lorna Simpson, Mickalene Thomas, and Alison Saar. The exhibition & catalogue are inspired by Drs. Ellington and Underwood who research preferential treatment of straight hair, the social hierarchies of skin, and the power and politics of display.

Catherine the Great's audacious power grab in 1762 marked a watershed in imperial Russian history. During a momentous 34-year reign, her rapacious vision and intellectual curiosity led to vast territorial expansion, cultural advancement, and civic, educational and social reform. In this pioneering book, Rosalind Blakesley reveals the remarkable role women artists played in her pursuit of these ambitions. With challenging commissions for an elite cast of Russian patrons, their work underscores the extent to which cultural enrichment co-existed with the empress's imperial designs. Catherine's acquisitions propelled renowned artists to new heights. The history paintings that she purchased from Angelica Kauffman brought the Swiss artist to the attention of keen new patrons, while Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun found in Russia safe refuge from the horrors of revolutionary France. Just as important were Catherine's relationships with lesser-known artists. The young sculptor Marie-Anne Collot made the arduous journey from Paris to St Petersburg to assist on the equestrian monument to Peter the Great and enthralled Russian society with her portrait busts, while Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna, wife of Catherine's troubled son Paul, sculpted cameos which the empress sent to distinguished correspondents abroad. With stories of extraordinary artistic endeavour intertwined with the intrigue of Catherine's personal life, Women Artists in the Reign of Catherine the Great uncovers the impact of these and other artists at one of Europe's most elaborate courts.

Melanie Klein was a Viennese psychoanalyst who extended the work of Sigmund Freud in significant and innovative ways. She lived and worked in the UK from 1926 until her death in 1959. During her life she was a controversial and divisive figure and has remained so since her death; conflict between the Freudian and Kleinian strands of psychoanalysis dominated the history of psychoanalysis in the latter half of the twentieth century. The reasons why she polarised opinion are multiple and complex; partly they were related to her psychoanalytic ideas and how she expressed them but they were also intrinsic to her personality. In 2016, a pair of delicate low relief sculptures of Melanie Klein in profile were re-discovered, having been hidden away for some eighty years, and have been subsequently identified as the work of the sculptor Oscar Nemon. Roger Amos was asked to write a brief article about these sculptures for publication on the Melanie Klein Trust website. During his research, he discovered that Klein had destroyed two significant works of art depicting herself: one a bust by the same sculptor as the low relief profiles, Oscar Nemon, and the other a portrait by William Coldstream. This beautifully illustrated book is the first comprehensive review of all attempts to portray Klein during her lifetime, from her earliest childhood until her old age, including the work of painters, sculptors, and portrait photographers. It reviews the history of each artistic project and the relationship between Klein and the artist involved, locating them in a narrative of Klein's life. The complex and interrelated reasons why she chose to destroy some of the representations of herself but kept others are identified and discussed. Through an understanding of the subject/artist relationship, Amos illuminates Klein's professional life in the world of psychoanalysis. A must-read for all scholars and professionals working in the field of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and psychodynamic counselling, plus those with an interest in Melanie Klein or aesthetics, this enjoyable read shines a never-before seen light on to the world of Melanie Klein.

With just under a thousand portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, the National Portrait Gallery boasts some of the most treasured and famous official portraits of the Queen captured at key historic moments, as well as day-to-day images of the monarch at home and with family, following her journey from childhood, to princess and Queen, mother and grandmother. This publication highlights the most important portraits of Elizabeth II from the Gallery's Collection. Paintings and photographs from the birth of Elizabeth II to the present will take readers on a visual journey through the life of Britain's foremost icon. The book will reflect on the Queen's life, presenting family photographs alongside important formal portraits to explore how, as her reign became record-breaking, she became an iconic figure in modern British culture and history. The publication features works by key artists depicting the Queen from 1926 to the present day, including Baron, Cecil Beaton, Dorothy Wilding, Patrick Lichfield, Andy Warhol, Annie Leibovitz and David Bailey. This book features an introductory essay by Alexandra Shulman, exploring how the collected portraits depict the Queen throughout her life and reign, and a timeline of key historical events and moments from Elizabeth II's life.

The first extended study of Frank Auerbach's remarkable portrait drawings reveals their complexity and ambition as works of graphic art This book offers an original approach to one of Britain's leading artists: Frank Auerbach (b. 1931). It looks in detail at his portrait drawings, which Auerbach has been making since the 1950s, and which he has always considered important, freestanding works of art. By turns eerie, shocking, enigmatic, and hauntingly tender, they demand fresh interpretation and investigation. Reproducing more than 130 examples of these portraits, some for the first time, and featuring new essays by curators, scholars, and critics, this book provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore and reassess these striking and sometimes unsettling works of graphic art. Frank Auerbach: Drawings of People includes texts by both the editors and the artist himself, and new essays by Kate Aspinall, James Finch, Alex Massouras, David Mellor, and Barnaby Wright. Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

In 1479, the Venetian painter Gentile Bellini arrived at the Ottoman court in Istanbul, where he produced his celebrated portrait of Sultan Mehmed II. An important moment of cultural diplomacy, this was the first of many intriguing episodes in the picture's history. Elizabeth Rodini traces Gentile's portrait from Mehmed's court to the Venetian lagoon, from the railway stations of war-torn Europe to the walls of London's National Gallery, exploring its life as a painting and its afterlife as a famous, often puzzling image. Rediscovered by the archaeologist Austen Henry Layard at the height of Orientalist outlooks in Britain, the picture was also the subject of a lawsuit over what defines a "portrait"; it was claimed by Italians seeking to hold onto national patrimony around 1900; and it starred in a solo exhibition in Istanbul in 1999. Rodini's focused inquiry also ranges broadly, considering the nature of historical evidence, the shifting status of authenticity and verisimilitude, and the contemporary political resonance of Old Master paintings. Told as an object biography and imagined as an exploration of art historical methodologies, this book situates Gentile's portrait in evolving dialogues between East and West, uncovering the many and varied ways that objects construct meaning.