Year Three: Camden 1 July – 11 October 2015 npg.org.uk/creativeconnections Creative Connections is generously supported by the Palley family. Year Three: Camden What identity means to me... Creative Connections is a four-year project connecting young people in London with contemporary artists to create new responses to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection. The spotlights for this third year of the project have been the London borough of Camden and the portraits and biographies of selected individuals who have local connections. The project partner has been Haverstock School and the artist, photographer Kate Peters. The young people explored the history of photography and the language of portraiture, while developing their creative and technical skills. Kate engaged them with interesting and curious facts about the people from Camden, symbolised through the use of objects. Together they created a new series of portraits. Camden is a place of great contrasts ranging from the leafy, green spaces of Hampstead and Highgate to the busy areas of Bloomsbury and Covent Garden. The Camden Town area is famous for its alternative cultural and music scenes and has become a popular destination for tourists. There are diverse countries in the world but in Camden you get the whole world. Participant, Haverstock School Creative Connections is generously supported by the Palley family. Creative Connections participants: GCSE Art students from Haverstock School, Camden. The project story, participants artwork and thoughts. Camden Connections #1 (From Songs to Surrealism) Lee Miller 1907–77 Bertrand Russell, Photojournalist 3rd Earl Russell Did you know? Miller reinvented herself as a 1872–1970 cook in the 1950s and often held dinner parties Philosopher with surreal themes; at one party all the food was white. Did you know? Russell was fascinated by the game of chess and an avid player. Camden Connection: Miller lived in Hampstead with her husband Roland Penrose, a surrealist Camden Connection: Russell lived in Holborn. There painter. is a statue in nearby Red Lion Square by which to Image not available for remember him. Biography: American-born Miller began her career copyright reasons as a model working for magazines including Biography: Russell was one of the foremost philosophers of the twentieth century. A pacifist Vogue and Vanity Fair. She expanded her own photographic work after being the pupil and during the First World War he was imprisoned for muse of Man Ray, the surrealist photographer. his views. He won the Nobel Prize for literature During the Second World War Miller worked as in 1950 in recognition of his significant work a correspondent and her work often captured advocating humanitarian ideals and freedom of the effects of bombing. She photographed thought. In 1958 he became the first President of the liberation of Paris and documented the the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). concentration camps Buchenwald and Dachau. By Man Ray, 1929 By Ida Kar, 1953 Photogravure Silver gelatin print x137575 x131164 Alan Bennett b.1934 Glenda Jackson b.1936 Playwright, actor Politician Did you know? Bennett’s The Lady in the Did you know? Before Jackson was a Labour MP Van (1989, adapted for screen in 2015), was she was an award winning actress; to play the role influenced by a homeless woman who lived, in of Queen Elizabeth I she had her head shaved. her van, in his garden for fifteen years. Camden Connection: Jackson studied at the Royal Camden Connection: Bennett lived in Camden Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Bloomsbury and Town. was the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn. Biography: The son of a Leeds butcher, Bennett Biography: Jackson was a member of the Royal studied History at Oxford University. After being Shakespeare Company from 1963. She won one of the writers and performers in the comedy Academy Awards for the filmsWomen in Love review Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s, he (1969) and A Touch of Class (1973). She progressed to notable successes on stage, screen became a Labour politician and was elected as and radio. Among the highlights are The History an MP in 1992. Boys (2004, adapted for screen in 2006) and Talking Heads (1988) as well as several volumes of autobiography. Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I in Mary, Queen of Scots By Derry Moore, 12th Earl By Terry O’Neill, 1971 of Drogheda, 1992 Silver gelatin print Colour coupler print Given by Terry O’Neil, 1985 P525 x34557 Paul Robeson 1898–1976 Ed Miliband b.1969 Singer Politician Did you know? The United States Government Did you know? Miliband claims to be able to confiscated Robeson’s passport in 1950. In complete a Rubik’s cube puzzle in 90 seconds. 1957 the British left-wing politician Tony Benn organised a protest meeting about the travel Camden Connection: Miliband went to ban. Robeson – unable to attend – sang down Haverstock School, Chalk Farm; the school the phone to over 1,000 supporters. attended by this year’s Creative Connections participants. He now lives in Dartmouth Park. Camden Connection: Robeson lived in Image not available for Biography: Miliband is of Jewish heritage and Hampstead and studied Swahili and Phonetics at copyright reasons the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), lost many relatives in the Holocaust. He was the Russell Square, Bloomsbury. youngest leader of the Labour Party and was in opposition for five years. Following the party’s Biography: Robeson was born in America to the defeat in the 2015 general elections Miliband son of an escaped slave. He won an American resigned the leadership but remains an MP. Football scholarship and used it to attend law school. Between 1925 and 1942, Robeson appeared in eleven films, including Show Boat (1936) and the Welsh mining drama The Proud Valley (1940). By Kate Peters (this year’s Creative By Madame Yevonde, c.1933 Connections artist) Silver gelatin print Colour coupler print, September 2012 x29838 x138045 Camden Connection #2 (From Whiz-bang to Wakefield) Charles Dickens 1812–70 Helena Bonham Carter b.1966 Writer Actor Did you know? Dickens had a pet raven called Did you know? Bonham Carter often wears Grip. pantaloons and other Victorian clothing and had her own fashion label, named Pantaloonies. Camden Connection: Dickens lived at 48 Doughty Street, Holborn; his house is now the Charles Camden Connection: Bonham Carter went to Dickens Museum. South Hampstead School. Biography: Dickens is widely regarded as the Biography: Bonham Carter was born in London. greatest author of the Victorian age. He is Despite never formally studying drama she has Image not available for celebrated for creating memorable characters and featured in many successful films includingFight copyright reasons raising awareness of social injustice. Dickens was Club (1999), the Harry Potter series (2001–2011), forced to leave school at the age of twelve to work Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Cinderella (2015). in a factory. His writing made him a celebrity and She won a BAFTA for her performance in The many of his books including Oliver Twist (1837) King’s Speech (2010). and A Christmas Carol (1843) have never been out of print. Charles Dickens, his characters and the empty chair By an unknown artist, 1872 Albumen print By David Seidner, 1998 Given by Terence Pepper, 2011 Colour coupler print x135439 P876 Dame Barbara Hepworth Walter Sickert 1860–1942 1903–1975 Artist Sculptor Did you know? Sickert lived in Mornington Did you know? In the late 1930s Hepworth’s Crescent and was a founding member of the studio in Camden was the centre of the abstract Camden Town Group of artists. This influential art movement in Britain. group, which held just three exhibitions between 1911 and 1912, focused on capturing the reality Camden Connection: Hepworth lived in of urban life. Hampstead. Her work Monolith-Empyrean (1953); is in the grounds of Kenwood House, Hampstead. Camden Connection: Sickert was a pupil of James McNeill Whistler, through whom he met and Biography: Born in Yorkshire, Hepworth was one of became friends with the artist Edgar Degas. These Britain’s most important twentieth-century artists. artists were important influences on his work. She produced abstract work exploring the human figure, landscape and material forms. In her work Biography: Born in Munich, Sickert attended the she used stone, metal, wood and string. Slade School of Art from 1881 to 1882. His subject matter, ordinary people, caused outrage. His later paintings were based on photographs and newspaper cuttings. Walter Sickert with his wife Therese Lessore By Jorge Lewinski, 1968 By George Woodbine, for the Daily Herald, 5 March 1934 Bromide print Modern bromide print from the original negative x13720 x74799 William Morris 1834–96 Matthew Williamson b.1972 Designer Designer Did you know? Morris designed over fifty Did you know? Williamson started his career as a wallpapers, each of which incorporate plant forms. designer for the fashion chain Monsoon. Camden Connection: Morris lived in Red Lion Camden Connection: Williamson lived in Square with Edward Burne-Jones, a member of the Hampstead. Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1856–59). Biography: Williamson was born in Manchester Biography: Morris is best known today for and studied Fashion Design at Central Saint his textile and wallpaper designs, but he also Martins. His work is characterised by bright published epic poetry and assisted with the colours and print embellishments. Williamson’s founding of the Society for the Protection of debut collection ‘Electric Angels’ in 1997 was Ancient Buildings (1877) and the Socialist League modelled by Kate Moss, Helena Christiansen and (1884). Morris’s designs included furniture, stained Jade Jagger. He is inspired by travel and different glass, book illustration and tapestry. As an active cultures and believes colour can enhance the socialist, Morris believed in ‘art for all’. wearer’s mood.