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Sir David Attenborough; Richard Attenborough

3 of 3 portraits by Ivy Smith

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© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir David Attenborough; Richard Attenborough

by Ivy Smith
oil on canvas, 1989
59 7/8 in. x 49 in. (1522 mm x 1245 mm)
Commissioned as part of the First Prize, 1986 John Player Portrait Award, 1989
Primary Collection
NPG 6073

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  • Ivy Smith (1945-), Painter. Artist or producer of 3 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Both men are keen art collectors. The African sculpture, which belongs to David Attenborough, is a 'Merekun', an ancestral lineage puppet (symbolising the family, to which the tribal priest can add smaller figures) made by the Bambrar people of Mali. The painting is by Victor Pasmore and belongs to his brother. Commissioned by the Trustees as part of the First Prize, John Player Portrait Award, 1981.

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  • Fame! (8 April 2006 - 6 August 2006)

Events of 1989back to top

Current affairs

96 people are crushed to death at the Hillsborough football stadium in Sheffield. The accident took place when Liverpool fans were all let into the stadium at once. Incoming crowds crushed people against a fence used to prevent pitch-invasions. Following the Taylor Report into the incident standing terraces and fences between fans and pitch were banned.

Art and science

Following the publication of Anglo-Indian writer Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses in 1988, the leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, announces that the book is 'blasphemous against Islam' and places a fatwah (death sentence) on Rushdie, who is forced into hiding for several years.

International

The Berlin Wall is dismantled, reunifying East and West Germany and symbolising the end of the Cold War. Following a decision to allow East Berliners to cross the border with valid visas, crowds swarmed the border crossings. Guards soon gave up trying to stop them, and the physical dismantlement of the wall soon began.
Approximately 2,000 Chinese demonstrators are massacred in Tiananmen Square while protesting against the government.

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