“Portraits of Her Majesty The Queen by Cecil Beaton, Lucian Freud and Andy Warhol are included in an exhibition opening at Windsor Castle on 23 November 2012. Celebrating Diamond Jubilee Year and the anniversary of the Coronation in 2013, The Queen: Portraits of a Monarch presents a selection of official, commissioned and informal portraits that highlight the diverse ways in which Her Majesty has been represented in different media throughout her six decades on the throne.” (from the Royal Collection Trust website)
In the US, the exhibition featured on TV on the This Morning programme, with an interview with exhibition curator Lauren Porter, Mark Philips (Princess Anne’s first husband) and art critic Richard Cork:
“LAUREN PORTER: Yes. So these are set of four monumental screen prints of Her Majesty The Queen, made by Andy Warhol in 1985.
MARK PHILLIPS: Mm-Hm.
LAUREN PORTER: So you have these beautiful outlines which have been sprinkled with diamond dust, which actually is pieces of crushed glass.
MARK PHILLIPS: Mm-Hm … There are other pop images not in the collection. But maybe, they should be.
[Sex Pistols performing]
MARK PHILLIPS: A Sex Pistols punk rock record cover in the seventies were shocking then, not so much now.
RICHARD CORK: Well, I think it was very clever. And kind of inevitable in a way that somebody at some point would come along and take this iconic image of this super respectable lady and suddenly she becomes punk.
MARK PHILLIPS: Doesn’t she?
RICHARD CORK: Yeah.
MARK PHILLIPS: So she’s – she’s everybody. She’s even the punks’ Queen.”
(from This Morning, CBS, 23 November 2012)
