Yevonde: Life and Colour – Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
A new exhibition showcasing the ground-breaking work of 20th century British photographer, Yevonde, will be shown at the Laing Art Gallery from 11th November 2023 – 20th April 2024, after its successful run at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Yevonde: Life and Colour will include new prints and discoveries that have been revealed by the latest research on Yevonde’s colour negative archive, which was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in 2021.
This exhibition is the largest ever showcase of the artist’s work with over 150 works, including 25 newly discovered photographs.
Yevonde was a pioneer of colour photography in the 1930s and is known for her portraits, commercial commissioned work, and still lives, which she produced throughout her 60-year career. Her portraits include some of the most famous faces of the time, including George Bernard Shaw, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud, and Princess Alexandra.
Her breadth of work and use of colour technique, including her experimentation with solarisation and the Vivex colour process, marks her as a trailblazer in the history of British portrait photography. She was also the first person in Britain to exhibit colour photographs.
