Iconic: Portraiture from Francis Bacon to Andy Warhol

Featuring major names of 20th century art including Francis Bacon, Peter Blake, Pauline Boty, Richard Hamilton, Gerhard Richter and Andy Warhol, Iconic: Portraiture from Francis Bacon to Andy Warhol brings rarely-seen works together to explore the ways artists are inspired by photography.

 

The exhibition focuses on the period in the mid 20th century, particularly the 1960s, when many artists began to use photographs as sources for paintings. Often, the photographs were not simply appropriated as tools in picture making but were themselves the subject matter, resulting in paintings that are about imagery and the mediation of such images. The exhibition also reflects on the potency of the media and the construction of celebrity. Many artists used photos of celebrities as the basis of their works, and several illustrate a degree of nostalgia, even for the very recent past.

Chris Stephens, Director of the Museum, says: “The term ‘Pop Art’ was coined in London in 1949 by the critic Lawrence Alloway, referencing artists’ use of photographic sources. We are thrilled to explore the development of portraiture from that moment and cannot wait to see the dialogue between them and the Holburne’s collection of paintings that depict the social elite and celebrities of their time.”

The exhibition is supported by King Edward’s School

Portrait of David Hockney in a Hollywood Spanish Interior, 1965, Peter Blake. © Peter Blake. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Photo Tate