More than 25 newly discovered pictures by one of the pioneers of colour photography will go on show at the National Portrait Gallery when it reopens.
Yevonde: Life and Colour, which opens on June 22, collects more than 150 works by the trailblazing portrait photographer.
Yevonde Middleton took pictures of royalty, writers and cinema stars over her 60-year career – all featuring her trademark use of what she described as “a riot of colour”.
She opened her studio before World War One and soon became a favourite of high society with a landmark series of women dressed as ancient goddesses, establishing her slightly surreal, colourful style.
The gallery’s director, Dr Nicholas Cullinan said: “I am delighted to launch the new National Portrait Gallery with Yevonde’s extraordinary photography and to be able to share exciting new research and acquisitions we have made of her pioneering and inimitable work.”
The exhibition comes after her archive was researched and digitised with funding from Chanel’s culture fund.
Yana Peel, who heads Arts and Culture at the fashion firm, said it was “committed to elevating the voices of women and broadening representation in cultural storytelling”.
The newly refurbished gallery will also host an exhibition of previously unseen photographs by Sir Paul McCartney from his early days in The Beatles.
The archive features images taken between December 1963 and February 1964 – from the emergence of Beatlemania in Liverpool to performing on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York for an audience of millions.
In 2020, Sir Paul, 80, approached the gallery – which reopens in June after three years of major refurbishments – after coming across the images, having thought they were lost.
