The Queen rarely comes to The Ulster Museum, but on this occasion she has arrived in style manifesting herself in many guises over a sixty year period. Some of the world’s leading painters, print-makers and photographers have contributed to this touring exhibition. It is truly a tour de force and the Museum deserves credit for hosting it. I do hope it travels to Dublin.
Inevitably the appearance locally, of Lucian Freud’s small but unique portrait of The Queen fixed quickly on my retina. I had seen this work reproduced a number of times in national newspapers and had adjudged it a somewhat harsh treatment of the royal subject. It was such a surprise at close quarters to discover a very considerable tenderness in treatment by the recently deceased artist. At a distance the brush strokes appeared aggressive and showed little deference to The Queen. That sense etherised on close scrutiny (as witnessed in the image above).
No exhibition of world figures would be complete without the ubiquitous presence of Andy Warhol. This suite of images by Warhol will be familiar to a lot of people, but nevertheless an opportunity to view these beautiful images at such close quarters should not be missed.
Perhaps all of us are at our best when we are asleep or have our eyes closed. ‘Et tu Reginae’
