Icons and Identities

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. It celebrates the power and creativity of individuals—artists as well as their sitters.

Icons and Identities draws upon the outstanding collections of the National Portrait Gallery to investigate and celebrate the variety and complexity of the genre. It brings together "icons"—the most famous faces from British history, from Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Isaac Newton to Audrey Hepburn and The Beatles—alongside less well-known sitters that provide a fascinating insight into the representation of identity in portraits. The book also includes some intriguing surprises to reflect the diversity of the National Portrait Gallery's collection and aims to introduce audiences around the world to exceptional portraits of many kinds.

This publication demonstrates how artists, working across a range of media, including painting, photography, and multimedia, have revealed the visually stimulating and intellectually vibrant tradition of portrait making. It is structured around a series of key timeless themes, with each section including a selection of works from various periods. This allows audiences to consider how artists and sitters have engaged with themes of power, fame, the self, innovation, identity, memory, and loss.