Roland Penrose
(1900-1984), Painter, art collector; WW2 camoufleur and writer on artSir Roland Algernon Penrose
Sitter in 15 portraits
Artist of 1 portrait
Artist, writer, poet and collector; founder (in 1947) of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). On leaving Cambridge University, where he had studied architecture, Penrose moved to Paris to become a painter. A friend and biographer of Picasso, Man Ray, Max Ernst and Joan Miró, it was Penrose's interest in Surrealism and Catalan art that brought him to Spain at the outset of the Civil War. An ardent supporter of the Republican cause, he became involved in efforts to raise money for anti-fascist forces and campaigned for British backing.
Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below
by Roland Penrose
mixed-media on paper, circa 1948
NPG 6388
Picnic (Nusch Eluard, Paul Eluard, Roland Penrose, Man Ray, Ady Fidelin)
by Lee Miller
gelatin silver print, 1937 (2012)
NPG x137400
By Ida Kar
2 1/4 inch square film negative, 1940s
NPG x137330
By Ida Kar
2 1/4 inch square film negative, 1940s
NPG x137331
By Ida Kar
2 1/4 inch square film negative, 1940s
NPG x137332
by Cecil Beaton
bromide print on white card mount, mid 1960s
NPG x14178
by Walter Bird
bromide print on card mount, 5 May 1966
NPG x165796
by Adrian Flowers
bromide print on card mount, October 1970
NPG x4168
by Nicholas Elder
bromide print on card mount, June 1975
NPG x4044
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