Portraits And Icons

This title examines the parallel phenomena of portraits and icons, and spans from late antiquity through the end of the Byzantine period. Engaging a wide range of material, it addresses prevalent and persistent themes in the creation of a distinctly Christianized portraiture while analyzing the cultural and theological perceptions in place that guided its reception. Christian Rome inherited its traditions and beliefs regarding portraiture from antiquity, especially in terms of its ritual and religious functions. Though certainly altered for its new Christian context, these perceptions did not disappear altogether. Various texts and images survive that allow us to imagine a world where sacred and secular art intermingled, and portraits of Christ and the saints, emperors, bishops, and holy men existed side by side in visual messages of power and hierarchal authority

Interviews with 11 celebrities including Madonna, Steve Martin, Steven Spielberg, and Michael Jackson.

This book focuses on the earliest surviving Christian icons, dated to the sixth and seventh centuries, which bear many resemblances to three other well-established genres of ‘sacred portrait’ also produced during late antiquity, namely Roman imperial portraiture, Graeco-Egyptian funerary portraiture and panel paintings depicting non-Christian deities. Andrew Paterson addresses two fundamental questions about devotional portraiture – both Christian and non-Christian – in the late antique period. Firstly, how did artists visualise and construct these images of divine or sanctified figures? And secondly, how did their intended viewers look at, respond to, and even interact with these images? Paterson argues that a key factor of many of these portrait images is the emphasis given to the depicted gaze, which invites an intensified form of personal encounter with the portrait’s subject. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, theology, religion and classical studies.

- A sumptuous celebration of photographer Andy Gott's unique portrait style, charting his 30-year career- With a foreword by Stephen Fry. Contributions from Kate Winslet and John Hurt. Appreciations by David Gandy, Brian May, Michael Palin, Ringo Starr, Dick van Dyck, Vivienne Westwood"His forté is the absolutely direct black and white portrait, full-on, sometimes grainy and remorseless in the detailing of complexion, sometimes mischievously witty and unexpected, always completely unforgettable." - Stephen Fry "Andy Gotts is a genius of his craft" - Tom Hanks In 1990 Andy Gotts, then a young photography student at Norfolk College of Arts and Technology, approached Stephen Fry at an event to ask him for a portrait. That brief meeting led to an even briefer photographic session (90 seconds), during which Andy realised he had discovered his photographic approach: "I cannot remember what I said to provoke the expressions and reactions I had in these 10 frames, but that was it... BOOM! ... my eureka moment. It was like a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders and I knew celebrity portraits were the way for me." Some 30 years later, Andy's unique portrait style - rapidly taken and often face-on - is admired for capturing the charisma of famed sitters such as Kylie Minogue, Meryl Streep, Harrison Ford and Kirk Douglas. Andy's chatty, quick-fire approach led Paul Newman to nickname him 'One Shot Gotts'. The photographs that Andy creates are naturalistic, eschewing the seductive technological traps of airbrushing and heavy styling. Andy Gotts was awarded an MBE in 2012 for his contribution to photography. This book is published in association with Maddox Gallery, London.

Icons features colorful portraits of 50 of the most admired women in the fields of music, politics, human rights, and film. This diverse and inclusive collection features the world's most inspiring women, including Michelle Obama, Beyonce, Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Yayoi Kusama and so many more. From singers to writers, activists to artists, politicians to filmmakers, Icons is a celebration of the strength of women. Illustrated by Monica Ahanonu, each portrait is accompanied by a short biography about what makes each woman a force to be reckoned with. • Share it with other women in your life: mom-to-daughter, daughter-to-mom, friend-to-friend • Read about the lives and accomplishments of each woman, or simply enjoy the enigmatic portraits. Ahanonu's illustrated portraits are both easily recognizable and also an artistic take on each featured woman's likeness and identity. • A smart and empowering collection of female role models • Perfect for those who loved In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs by Grace Bonney and Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World by Mackenzi Lee

Drawing on the outstanding collection of the National Portrait Gallery, this volume celebrates the variety and complexity of portraiture The National Portrait Gallery holds the world's most extensive collection of portraits: a museum of people, a gallery of stories and ideas, and a home of artistic masterpieces. Icons and Identitiesdraws together icons from Shakespeare to Audrey Hepburn alongside less well-known sitters that provide insight into the representation of identity in portraits. It also includes some intriguing surprises to reflect the diversity of the National Portrait Gallery's collection and to introduce audiences around the world to exceptional portraits of many kinds. Icons and Identitiesshows how artists, working across mediums, have revealed the visually stimulating and intellectually vibrant tradition of portrait making. The book is structured around a series of key themes and each section includes a selection of works from a range of periods. Artists include: Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Andy Warhol, Marlene Dumas and Shirin Neshat.

During her lifetime, the Belgian - born British actress Audrey Hepburn (192993), star of such films as Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffanys, My Fair Lady, Charade and Two for the Road, was recognised around the world. Posthumously, her popularity has endured and her image continues to be reproduced in a variety of international cultural contexts. Unlike other collections, in this new book the authors call attention to the circumstances in which pictures of Hepburn were published and consumed, thereby illuminating more generally our changing relationship with such images over the course of the twentieth century. Hepburn's career is charted through over 145 portraits and supporting images from her early years in London as a student of ballet and a performer on the West End stage, to her Hollywood heyday and her final years as a special ambassador for the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF). Alongside work by the photographers whose portraits defined Hepburn's image and shaped her career are publicity photographs and images made on - and off - set during the production of her films, as well as family photographs and informal archive news pictures.0Possessing the features, height and poise of a model, Hepburn collaborated with a number of couturiers, notably Hubert de Givenchy. Her image often graced the pages and covers of fashion magazines such as Harpers Bazaar, for which she was photographed by Richard Avedon, whose work is represented here together with portraits by Cecil Beaton, Antony Beauchamp, Philippe Halsman, Angus McBean, Norman Parkinson and Irving Penn. Exhibition: National Portrait Gallery, London, UK (02.07-18.10.2015).

Text by Margaret Hooks.