Performing Arts Portrait for 30 Year Olds and Up

On September nine, 2015, Queen Elizabeth Two surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Queen Victoria ruled for 63 years and 216 days.

Marking the occasion is "Long to Reign over Us," a photography exhibition at the Purple Collection featuring posed portraits and casual family shots of the Queen captured during her tenure.

Over the decades, Queen Elizabeth, age 89, has been the subject field of endless paintings and pictures. After a lifetime of official royal photo-ops, the Queen is such a pro in front of the camera, she can fifty-fifty pull off a photograph-flop to brand whatever Millennial proud.

The Queen photobombs a selfie being taken past members of Australia's women's hockey team during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Photo: Jayde Taylor, via Twitter.

"The Queen is one of the easiest people to photograph," royal photographer Mark Stewart told artnet News via email. Stewart has spent over 25 years photographing the Queen and her family in over lx countries around the earth,

Portrait sitting, however, is another story: "One thing all artists will tell yous is that the Queen does not sit down yet," John Wonnacott, who painted the royal family in 2000, told the Telegraph. "And you really cannot say, 'Ma'am will yous please bloody well sit still.'"

In honour of the Queen's latest regal milestone, artnet News has rounded up xxx of our favorite photos and paintings of the British ruler, including a pick from the Royal Collection exhibition.

Cecil Beaton, Coronation Day (1953).
Photograph: Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Ii, 2015.

ane. Cecil Beaton's official coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth, taken June 2, 1954, is currently on view at the Majestic Collection. Although the image appears at first glance to be set in Westminster Abbey, the lensman really employed a theatrical backdrop for the photo, which was taken in a drawing room at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty wears the imperial state crown, created for Queen Victoria's 1838 coronation, and holds the orb and scepter, looking equally the pic of reigning British royalty.

Andy Warhol, Queen Elizabeth (unique) (1985). Courtesy of Adamar Fine Arts.

2. Pop artist Andy Warhol'southward last print portrait, of which sixteen prints were known to take been made, was based on Queen Elizabeth'southward 1977 official Silver Jubilee portrait (when she had ruled for a mere 25 years). Warhol, better-known for his depictions of stars of the silver screen such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, silk-screened the British monarch as part of a portrait series of the world's 4 reigning queens in 1985 that also included Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe Ii of Kingdom of denmark, and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland.

Marking Stewart, The Queen is taken by surprise as she takes tea with Eton schoolboys at Guards Polo Club (2003).
Photo: Marking Stewart.

iii. Stewart won a Royal Photographer of the Twelvemonth award, presented by then-Prime number Minister Tony Blair, for this priceless photograph of Her Majesty making a disturbed confront. "I would love to know what she was maxim," mused Stewart of what he describes a "once-in-a-life-time photograph." Other highlights from his career with the royal family include beingness ane of only two photographers to capture Queen Elizabeth'southward audience with Pope John Paul Two in 2000, an experience that "was quite humbling and emotional, and, if I'm honest, caused a butterfly or ii!"

William Dargie, Queen Elizabeth II (1954).
Photo: National Museum Australia.

iv. William Dargie painted this image of the Queen in 1954, subsequently she visited Commonwealth of australia in the first trip to the continent by a reigning British monarch. The work, now in the collection of the National Museum Commonwealth of australia, is called the wattle painting because of Her Royal Highness's aureate tulle dress, adorned with gilt wattle blossoms, the official floral emblem of Australia.

Dorothy Wilding, The Queen (1952). Photo: Majestic Collection Trust, © William Hustler and Georgina Hustler.

5. Dorothy Wilding, the first woman appointed official imperial photographer, snapped this black-and-white portrait of the Queen in February 1952, a mere 20 days later she came to the throne. It is the earliest royal portrait included in the Purple Drove Trust exhibition.

Thomas Struth, Queen Elizabeth II and the Knuckles of Edinburgh, Windsor Castle (2011).
Photo: Thomas Struth.

half dozen. The Queen commissioned this photo portrait from German photographer Thomas Struth in 2011. The royal couple looks fairly strong and reserved, perched on an ornate sofa, tilted oddly askew (presumably by Struth) in a richly-aureate high-ceilinged room. (See our artnet Asks interview with Struth.)

Lucian Freud, HM Queen Elizabeth Ii
2000–2001 (2001).
Photo: © Royal Drove Trust 2012/the Lucian Freud Archive.

7. This tiny, expressive sheet painted in 2001 by Lucian Freud has managed to dramatically split up opinion. Depicting just the monarch'southward head and shoulders, Freud actually had to expand the canvas past iii.5 centimeters when he decided to capture Queen Elizabeth'due south diamond diadem every bit well.

David Dawson, The Queen sits for Lucian Freud (2001) .
Photograph: © David Dawson.

Some found the piece unflattering, with Richard Morrison of the LondonTimes noting that "the chin has what can simply be described equally a half dozen-o'clock shadow." Others appreciated the naturalism, with theGuardian's Adrian Searle calling Freud's piece of work "the best royal portrait of whatsoever imperial anywhere for at to the lowest degree 150 years."

Dorothy Wilding, Queen Elizabeth II, manus-colored by Beatrice Johnson, (1952). Photo: © William Hustler and Georgina Hustler, courtesy the National Portrait Gallery, London.

8. Role of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, this bromide Wilding print was hand-colored by Beatrice Johnson, who worked at the photographer's studio and frequently collaborated with her on images of the royal family unit. Another photo from this 1952 portrait session became the commencement British postage stamp stamp to conduct the Queen's visage.

Nicole Leidenfrost Horse in Royal Blue (2015)
Photo: via the Telegraph

9. This 1 is not exactly the Queen'south favorite: during a country visit to Frg this year, Her Purple Highness was presented with Nicole Leidenfrost's painting of Her Majesty every bit a young girl on a horse with her male parent, based on a 1935 movie. Queen Elizabeth was utterly unimpressed, asking German language President Joachim Gauck "Take yous seen the photo?"

Chris Levine, Lightness of Being, (2012).
Photo: Chris Levine.

ten. "I wanted the Queen to experience peaceful," wrote Levine of the photograph in theGuardian, "and so I asked her to rest betwixt shots; this was a moment of stillness that just happened." Levine took this striking paradigm of Queen Elizabeth, full of the gravity of old age and a decades-long reign, in 2004, to marker 800 years of allegiance to the crown by the Isle of Jersey. "It has such an aura nigh it," he wrote, "a power."

Dan Llywelyn Hall, Queen Elizabeth II (2013).
Photo: Dan Llewelyn Hall.

11. Created in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Queen'southward ascent to the throne (her diamond jubilee), Dan Llywelyn Hall's expressionistic rendition of the monarch is not exactly a crowd favorite at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. "Never mind hanging the portrait, information technology is the artist who should be hung," one local told the Mirror shortly after the work's unveiling. (Hall is as well responsible for a similarly unpopular portrait of an uncharacteristically cerise-looking Prince William, and was the first official artist-in-residence at Cannes.)

Ralph Heimans, A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Ii (2012).

12. Ralph Heimans revisited the Westminster Abbey coronation tableau for his diamond jubilee portrait of the monarch. (The artist actually met with her in the yellowish drawing room at Buckingham Palace, the Queen'due south preferred setting for portrait sittings.) Heimans spent just i hr with Her Purple Highness in preparation for the slice, describing her to theTelegraph every bit "the ultimate subject." Dramatically lit, the canvass highlights the Queen's more vulnerable side, as she stares down at the spot on the Abbey'due south Cosmati pavement where she was crowned in the same cascading robe 60 years earlier.

Patrick Lichfield, The Queen on board HMY Britannia (1972). Photo: Patrick Lichfield.

13. This remarkably casual image from Her Majesty'southward silverish wedding ceremony Far Eastern tour in 1972 shows her in a rare sleeveless dress, head thrown back in laughter at the photographer, Patrick Lichfield, who has been pushed into the pool on boardHMY Britannia. "I did have the wit to take a waterproof camera with me and when I came up for about the third time, I took a picture of the Queen upwardly on the bridge laughing at me," wrote Lichfield of the lighthearted moment, included in the Purple Collection exhibition.

Isobel Peachey, Queen Elizabeth Two (2010).

14. Isobel Peachey painted the Queen in 2010 for Cunard'sQueen Elizabeth ocean liner. The monarch posed in the same diamond necklace and earrings that she wore during her coronation. The jewelry originally belonged to Queen Victoria, proving that when it comes to really expensive bling, some things never go out of style.

Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, HM Queen Elizabeth II (2002).

xv. With the Queen's Gold Jubilee in 2002 came some other official portrait of Her Royal Highness, this ane commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The artist, Nigeria's Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, painted Her Majesty in rich gem tones, standing in front of a vibrant sunset and an imaginative landscape containing iconic places from around the Republic, from India's Taj Mahal to Montego Bay in Jamaica.

Marcus Adams, The Queen in 1954 with Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
Photograph: © Marcus Adams/Camera Press.

xvi. In 1954, the Queen and her children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, posed for a portrait with royal photographer Marcus Adams, who also took the monarch'south baby photos back in the 1920s. The resulting prototype is the film of a radiant young mother, seated with her adoring children.

Paul Popper, Princess Elizabeth (1928). Photo: © Marcus Adams/Camera Press.

17. The cherubic lilliputian toddler is none other than the Queen herself, back when she was however Princess Elizabeth and just ii years onetime—and more than than a piddling flake bored with getting her picture taken by Adams, known for his images of children.

Mark Stewart, The Queen Crying at the Field of Remembrance, Westminster Abbey (2002).
Photograph: Marking Stewart.

xviii. This rare evidence of emotion from the Queen was captured by Stewart at the opening of Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in 2002. "The anniversary had always been carried out by the Queen Mother, who had died before that year, as likewise had the Queen's sister Princess Margaret," explained Stewart. "It was conspicuously an emotional time for HM, and the first occasion she had stepped into her late mother'southward shoes." The Queen is often portrayed in popular culture every bit stoic and reserved, particularly inThe Queen (2006), starring Helen Mirren and depicting the royal family'south response to the 1997 death of Princess Diana. Her Majestic Highness initially chose not to publicly admit the tragedy, much to the distress of the British people.

Julian Calder, The Queen of Scots, Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle and Chief of the Chiefs (2010).
Photo: © Julian Calder/Camera Printing/Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

19. This dramatic paradigm past Julian Calder is then quintessentially Scottish that the Scottish National Portrait Gallery had to have it for its collection. Shot at the purple family'south manor at Balmoral Castle, the bucolic scene, fix amid the heather, looks like something out of fairy tale, and was inspired by the piece of work of Scottish painter Henry Raeburn.

Patrick Lichfield, The Queen at Balmoral, her private residence in Scotland
(1971).
Photograph: Patrick Lichfield.

20. Another shot taken at the Balmoral estate, this 1971 photo by Lichfield is set in front of a roaring waterfall. The Queen, attired in what appears to be a traditional Scottish kilt, poses with ii of her beloved corgis—New Yorkmag reports that she has had over thirty during her lifetime. Both images of Her Majesty at Balmoral are function of the Purple Drove exhibition.

John Wonnacott, The Royal Family unit: A Centenary Portrait (2000).
Photograph: © John Wonnacott/National Portrait Gallery, London.

21. Wonnacott'due south awe-inspiring, 12-foot-tall painting saw the royal family and their dogs ushering in a new century. The canvas features an usual composition, with the people clustered in the work'due south lower one-half, chandelier dripping with crystals and an intricately-painted ceiling dominating the remainder of the frame. Wonnacott was aware of the force per unit area put on him by the National Portrait Gallery, telling the Telegraph, "From a purely reputational point of view, if y'all fail this one, you've blown it." At least 1 critic felt that he did. "Looking at such portraits, and thinking about the mod royals," wrote Searlein theGuardian, "is an excoriating concern." (He had nevertheless to accept his faith in the genre restored by Freud.)

George Condo, Dreams and Nightmares of the Queen (2006). Photo: courtesy the artist, Simon Lee Gallery/Andrea Caratsch/Zurich and Luhring Augustine/Tate Modern.

22. Perhaps the almost hated portrait to brand our list, this George Condo painting angered Britons for its cartoonish appearance when it was displayed at the Tate Modernistic in 2006. Derisively nicknamed "The Cabbage Patch Queen" for its resemblance to the popular 1980s children'southward toy, the slice was described by the Majestic Guild of Portrait Painters' Brendan Kelly to the Evening Standardequally "embarrassingly bad." All things considered, yet, the Queen got off like shooting fish in a barrel: Condo originally wanted to paint her naked.

Pietro Annigoni,Queen Elizabeth Two, Queen Regent (1954).
Photo: © the Fishmongers' Company.

23. Pietro Annigoni painted the Queen in 1954, just two years afterward her coronation. The elegant portrait of the immature monarch looks like a promotional image for a period picture show. Privately owned by London'southward Fishmongers' Company, the painting rarely goes on public view, only has appeared on stamps and currency in British dependencies around the world.

Pietro Annigoni, Queen Elizabeth 2, (1969).
Photograph: © National Portrait Gallery, London.

24. The Queen never publicly comments on whatever of her official portraits, but she was apparently and so taken with Annigoni's work that she asked the National Portrait Gallery to enlist the Italian artist to paint her again in 1969. Where Annigoni's before work was romantic and glamorous, the second painting, seen hither in a report, portrayed Her Imperial Highness with regal, intimidating potency. "I did non want to paint her as a film star, I saw her as a monarch, alone in the bug of her responsibleness," said the creative person of the striking difference. The 2 were united for simply the 2d fourth dimension at the National Portrait Gallery in 2012 for "The Queen: Fine art and Image," a exhibition for the diamond jubilee.

Justin Mortimer, The Queen (1997).
Photograph: Justin Mortimer/the RSA.

25. The bright yellow groundwork of Justin Mortimer's 1997 portrait of Queen Elizabeth was inspired by Buckingham Palace's Yellowish Drawing Room, where he met with the monarch. Mortimer painted Her Majesty's head floating above her body to illustrate her detachment and isolation from modern life. "I felt she was from some other era," the artist told theWall Street Periodical. "I don't take anything in common with her apart from beingness English." The anarchistic approach was not without its detractors: " 'Silly' Artist Cuts off the Queen's Head," read aDaily Mail headline.

Antony Williams, HM The Queen 1996).
Photograph: Antony Williams.

26. This careworn, elderly-looking Queen Elizabeth was painted in 1996 past Antony Williams every bit part of a committee from the Royal Lodge of Portrait Painters. When critics complained he had given her "sausage fingers," Williams told the AP "that'southward how they were, I recall. That's what I saw basically."

Alison Jackson, The Majestic Family larn how to selfie.
Photo: Alison Jackson.

27. No, the Queen isn't taking her ain photos now. This faux royal family selfie is the work of Alison Jackson, a British lensman who crafts convincing personal photos of intimate moments experienced past British celebrities using look alike actors. We're guessing Her Majesty would not exist pleased by Jackson'southward video of her doppelganger on the toilet, but we're admittedly tickled by the thought of a social media-savvy monarch.

Jason Bell, Four generations of the Royal Family unit, The Queen with The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, and Prince George of Cambridge (2013).
Photo: Jason Bong/Camera Press.

28. The Royal Collection exhibition besides looks to the time to come, with Jason Bell's 2013 photo of the Queen with the three side by side heirs to the throne: Prince Charles, Prince William, and the baby, Prince George.

Queen Elizabeth 2.
Photo: Alastair Barford.

29. The Queen's most recent portrait, commissioned in laurels of her surpassing Queen Victoria, was created past Alastair Barford, a 28-yr-erstwhile janitor. The painting offers an excellent likeness, but Her Majesty's unusual robes (for the Lodge of the Garter) look more like those of an esteemed academic at graduation or a Hogwarts professor than that of the head of the Republic.

Stephen Lock, The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh leaving for the Land Opening of Parliament (2015). Photo by Stephen Lock.

30. The final epitome in the Imperial Collection prove was taken just this May, by Stephen Lock. It shows Her Regal Highness and her husband leaving Buckingham Palace in a carriage, on their way to the land opening of Parliament, where she delivered the Queen's spoken communication.

"Long to Reign Over Us" is on view at Buckingham Palace, September nine–27, 2015; at Windsor Castle, October half dozen, 2015–Jan v, 2016; and at Palace of Holyroodhouse, January half-dozen–27, 2016.

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