#exhibition review

Exhibition review: Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon

TheAudrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon exhibition currently showing at London’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is a master-class in how to keep a movie star’s estate strong decades after her death.

Based on photos lent by Hepburn’s sons Luca Dotti and Sean Hepburn Ferrer, the exhibition reinforces the image of the actress as we know her: pretty, gamine, elegant, well-dressed and thoughtful. Even the few pictures shown for the first time drive that point home.

This is the official story of Audrey Hepburn: her struggles during the war, her first-class ballet skills, her Hollywood break, her relationship with Givenchy. It culminates with her retirement from the public eye and her collaboration with UNICEF - every single trope of the Hepburn biography gets a tick, in chronological order.

Each film is evoked through a couple of visuals, an unexpected reminder that Hollywood has always liked pairing young female actress with (much) older male leads. But in this exhibition, such issues are never discussed. The biographical notes draw some parallels between Hepburn’s rise and popularity within the evolution of women’s role in society during the 50s and 60s, but only slightly: that issue would have been worth a full exhibition in itself.

Dotti speaks of a clash between Hepburn, his mother, and Hepburn, the woman the public projects, based on the Breakfast at Tiffany’s black dress and hairdo. He argues that we are now more interested in knowing her for who she really was, the kindest, funniest person to be around. Yet that aspect of her personality is drowned in the exhibition by the usual Hepburn iconography, and even when it shines through, it merely reinforces what feels like Perfect Hepburn.

I left frustrated by the lack of angle and opinion expressed in the exhibition, but impressed by the way in which Hepburn managed to build a unifying brand, one that her heirs can carry on. Over 60 years after her first break in Gigi on Broadway, they have the narrative down to a T, all the asperities rubbed away by time and the public’s desire to see Hepburn as the epitome of class and perfection.

Portraits of an Icon fits its brief in that way: we want to see the Hepburn we know, and nothing else. We want to see what made her an icon in the first place. Any divergence from this line would probably have resulted in fewer ticket sales.

Showing until 18 October 2015. Tickets from £10.

Tooi [Tuai], Drawing of Korokoro’s moko, 1818, paper, 30 x 50 cm, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries.

‘Oceania’ at the Royal Academy

★ ★ ★ ★

I have been truly spoilt this year with regards to my love of all things Pacific: from my trip to New Zealand, to the numerous exhibitions in London covering various areas of the subject. The Royal Academy’s ‘Oceania’ showcases the art from island nations across the world’s largest body of water. Over 200 pieces are on display, including canoes, traditional clothing, ceramics and sacred sculptures, and are presented thematically to reveal the stories and narratives that have shaped the history of these indigenous peoples.

Ahu ula (feather cloak) belonging to Liholoho, Kamehameha II., early 19th century, feathers, fibre, painted barkcloth (on reverse), 207 cm, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge.

The exhibition covers over 500 years of Pacific culture, right up to the modern era. My highlight, in fact, came from New Zealand contemporary artist Lisa Reihana. Her work in Pursuit of Venus [infected] is a reappropriation of the 19th-century panoramic woodblock piece Les sauvages de la mer Pacifique. The latter was a romanticised vision of colonial discovery in the Pacific, whereas Reihana takes a more realistic approach to the dramatic encounters between native islanders and the European settlers. Her piece is a slow-spanning panoramic film, featuring animation and filmed reenactments. Visitors can sit in the darkened cinematic gallery and observe mini-storylines, such as a colonial artist being attacked by native insects whilst trying to paint, and a tense confrontation between tribal warriors and gun-wielding soldiers. It’s addictive viewing, though it lasts a full hour, so make sure you have enough time to experience it thoroughly!

‘Oceania’ is on at the Royal Academy until 10th December. All images are courtesy of the Royal Academy.