25 September 2013
'Mandela to McCartney' - rare Peto photographs go on display
Fifty iconic photographs from the great Hungarian photographer Michael Peto will go on display at the National Portrait Gallery
in London and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center thanks to a unique collaboration between the
two institutions and the University of Dundee.
A behind-the-scenes and previously unexhibited photograph of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at the beginning of their
love affair is featured in a new display of ten photographs by Peto now on show at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
The portrait is one of ten photographs by Peto (1908-1970) taken in London during the 1950s and 1960s that have gone on
display at the National Portrait Gallery, London, where they will be on show until June 2014. The display includes photographs
of famous figures such as Samuel Beckett, Jennie Lee, Paul McCartney and a very young Ian McKellen at the time of his success
in the Prospect theatre production of Richard II in 1969. The collection also features unseen photographs of the Royal Ballet,
including Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn at the height of their careers and a full range of Beatles shots during 1965.
The ten exhibition photographs featured in this display have been printed by master printer Robin Bell from Peto's original
negatives and have been gifted to the National Portrait Gallery by the University of Dundee to celebrate Peto's remarkable
contribution to portrait photography.
University of Dundee Rector and actor Brian Cox, Patron of The Peto Collection, said, 'From humble beginnings, Michael Peto
grew into an incredible artist and photographer. With an intense interest in the variations of human form he had a talent for
capturing his subjects in their natural environment - ordinary people, Olympic athletes, The Beatles. He was able to do it
all with a keen eye and subtle sensitivity. This collection is an extraordinary gift he has left us, so please, learn,
appreciate, enjoy and, above all, support its future.'
This display will form one part of a season of exhibitions of Peto's work, which will include displays at The New York
Public Library for the Performing Arts at The Lincoln Center from 2nd October 2013 until 4th January 2014 and at The
Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in 2014.
MICHAEL PETO PHOTOGRAPHS: MANDELA TO McCARTNEY
Room 32, National Portrait Gallery, London
Admission free
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place WC2H 0HE, opening hours Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday:
10am - 6pm (Gallery closure commences at 5.50pm) Late Opening: Thursday, Friday: 10am - 9pm (Gallery closure commences at
8.50pm) Nearest Underground: Leicester Square/Charing Cross General information: 0207 306 0055 Recorded information:
020 7312 2463 Website www.npg.org.uk
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902 |
