The National Portrait Gallery in London is to stage its first major exhibition presenting rarely-seen photographs of British actor Audrey Hepburn in London. The exhibition marks the 65th anniversary of Hepburn’s career-changing performance at a leading West End night-club called Ciro’s, in the same building that now houses the National Portrait Gallery’s public library, reported bbc.com.
Pim Baxter, deputy director of the National Portrait Gallery said, “It is particularly appropriate that the exhibition will be staged in such close proximity to where she performed as a young woman at the very start of her career,” reported telegraph.co.uk.
The show will chart her rise from West End chorus girl to one of Hollywood’s most photographed stars and also document her later philanthropic efforts. Classic images of the Breakfast at Tiffany’s actor will be exhibited together with rarely seen family photos, as well as personal photographs of her practicing ballet as a young woman.
The exhibition also comprises some of Hepburn’s most celebrated portraits by photographers like Sir Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Angus McBean, Irving Penn and Norman Parkinson. Some of the most famous images in Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon are taken from the Oscar-winning actor’s film posters, vintage magazine spreads and publicity shots. Many were taken behind the scenes on her films, including those by photographer Mark Shaw who was given exclusive access to the set of 1953’s Sabrina for Life magazine.
“Audrey Hepburn was one of the world’s most celebrated actresses, and I am delighted that the National Portrait Gallery will hold a major photography exhibition exploring the life and work of such a significant and much-loved figure that spent the formative early years of her career in Britain,” said Baxter.
Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon will run from July 2 to October 18, 2015.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2014.
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