Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens

Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery of the some of the UK’s cultural and humanitarian icons make up the Great British Faces exhibition at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, showing from 29 September 2012 – 9 March 2013.
Images of creative powerhouses such as playwright Harold Pinter, actors Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen rub shoulders with those of recent Olympic flag bearer and humanitarian Camila Batmanghelidjh.
Held in the Art Gallery, Great British Faces is a snapshot of modern Britain, and represents the diversity, creativity and vision of those people who have shaped the cultural and civil landscape of the world in which we live.
Jo Cunningham, Manager of Sunderland Museums said:
“Thank you to the National Portrait Gallery for these fabulous loans; this celebration of portraiture will appeal to so many people - we have both real life heroes and heroes of the stage and screen. “
“These magnificent portraits capture the very essence of the sitters and are amazingly skilful. They show contemporary portraiture at its best.”
The portraits were all commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and were created by BP Portrait Award winning artists; the collection is representative of recent commissions made by the Gallery.