Dame Muriel Spark

by Bob Tulloch
pencil and wash, 1993
11 in. x 11 in. (282 mm x 282 mm)
Commissioned, 1993
Primary Collection
NPG 6226

Sitterback to top

Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg) (1918-2006), Novelist. Sitter in 11 portraits.

Artistback to top

Bob Tulloch (1950-), Artist. Artist of 1 portrait.

Linked publicationsback to top

Nairne, Sandy (introduction), 500 Portraits: BP Portrait Award, 2011, p. 317
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 578

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1993back to top

Current affairs

The Conservative Party is attacked in the media for 'sleaze'. Two MP's resign over sex scandals, two over the 'cash-for-questions affair', and one dies in bizarre and embarrassing circumstances. Journalist Max Clifford was responsible for exposing many of the scandals.
Black teenager Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racist attack by a gang of white youths.

Art and science

Rachel Whiteread wins the Turner Prize for her sculpture House; a concrete cast of the inside of a Victorian terraced house in East London. Controversy was caused by the work itself, by it winning the Turner Prize, and by the decision of Tower Hamlets council to demolish the sculpture.
British inventor James Dyson revolutionises the vacuum cleaner with his eponymous design.

International

Czechoslovakia is divided into two countries: the Slovak Republic (Slovakia) and the Czech Republic. The division was peaceful and democratic and so became known as the 'Velvet Divorce', recalling the 'Velvet Revolution' of 1989 by which Communism in Czechoslovakia was overthrown through peaceful mass demonstrations.

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