The National Portrait Gallery

The logo for the National Portrait Gallery is quite boring and plain and doesn't convey any message that really suggests the pieces within the museum. I suppose the logo kind of conveys the same as the architecture of the building which is simple but pretty and a little plain looking. The varying types of portraits however, make it hard to focus on one font or coloration for the logo to capture a sense of what the museum is about.

The portrait drawn on the left is a sketch of Lauren Rosenfeldt as the Dame Anna Neagle, whose portrait was painted by McClelland Barclay in 1940. Anna Neagle was a British actress and was the first actress to appear on the cover of Life magazine. I felt this portrait best identified with Lauren instantaneously by the depiction of Neagle's beautiful bright red hair, a notable attribute of my now close friend. This portrait also reminded me of Lauren through the upright posture and body positioning in which Neagle's hands grasp her hips to accentuate her upper body- a pose commonly found in an array of photographs of Lauren. The fact that Neagle was a popular and beautiful actress parallels Lauren's outgoing and dramatic personality that make her so lovable. 

The sketch to the right is a self portrait as Wallis Duchess of Windsor, a portrait by Gerald Leslie Brockhurst in 1939. Wallis was an American born woman who met the Prince of Wales in London. While I do not consider myself to be anywhere near the status of a Duchess, I can only identify with the desire to be an American girl in London, meeting the Prince and being the lucky lady who charms him. I admire the beauty of Wallis as well as her simple and sophisticated style that is shown in the original portrait. 

This sketch of the portrait of Sir William Walton by Michael Ayrton (1948) reminded me of fellow abroad student Max Florian, firstly with the young boyish look and sense of comfort and contemplation. Upon reading the portrait's description I learned that Walton was a composer who was dedicated and enthusiastic about music, similarly to Max. Additionally I found it humorous that Walton's portrait included a pipe and a drink, as probably would a portrait of Max. 

The sketch on the left of this image is a portrait of Lauryn Besasie as Beatrix Potter painted by Delmar Banner in 1938. Potter, a writer, artist, conservationist, caught my eye with the distant and sweet smile that reminded me of Lauryn. The portrait conveys Potter's maternal sense that is evident in her love of children, which lead her to write children's novels (such as Peter Rabbit), which reminded me of Lauryn's nurturing personality. Lauryn is also a very "green" minded girl and can be caught sketching in her notebooks also identifies with Potter in this way. The sketch on the right is of Karl Iglesias as Walter Richard Sickert who painted a self portrait in 1935. Only upon reading the caption did I identify Karl with Sickert, who was an aspiring actor, and very interested in music and theatre. While conveying a sense of individual style in the self portrait, I decided that Karl also holds this individualized fashion sense and also thought it necessary to include his signature headphones with a mic in hand (in place of Sickert's original cane).