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Sir David Hare

2 of 2 portraits by Dame Paula Rego

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir David Hare

by Dame Paula Rego
pastel on paper laid on board, 2005
51 1/8 in. x 48 3/8 in. (1300 mm x 1230 mm)
Commissioned; made possible by J.P. Morgan through the Fund for New Commissions, Sir Christopher Ondaatje and the Art Fund, 2005
Primary Collection
NPG 6746

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Dame Paula Rego (1935-2022), Artist. Artist or producer of 2 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Rego described this portrait as a painting 'with the whole of theatre in it'. The suggestion that a performance is taking place is characteristic of her work. Commenting on the lamb, a prop she made herself, she said: 'The things I couldn't get into David's face I put into the sheep's face…it goes well with him and looks after him.'

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Writers, p. 157
  • Howgate, Sarah; Nairne, Sandy, A Guide to Contemporary Portraits, 2009, p. 31 Read entry

    The artist described this portrait of playwright Sir David Hare (b. 1947), produced in ten three-hour sittings at the artist’s London studio, as a painting ‘with the whole of theatre in it’ – entirely fitting in view of Hare’s long association with London’s National Theatre. The suggestion that a performance is taking place is characteristic of Rego’s work. Commenting on the lamb, a prop she made herself, she said: ‘The things I couldn’t get into David’s face I put into the sheep’s face ... it goes well with him and looks after him.’ With a nod to James Ensor, a theatrical mask lies on the floor.

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 2005back to top

Current affairs

London suffers its worst bomb attack since the Second World War when four devices are detonated during rush hour on public transport. Three of the bombs went off on tube trains, and one on a bus killing 56 people and injuring 700. A Leeds-based terror cell of British born or raised Islamic extremists committed the attacks.
John Sentamu becomes the first black Archbishop of the Church of England.

Art and science

As part of the international Make Poverty History campaign, ten Live 8 concerts are held simultaneously around the world to coincide with the meeting of the G8 and persuade the world's richest countries to 'drop the debt' owed by the world's poorest countries, increase aid to the world's poorest people and negotiate fairer international trade rules.

International

1,836 die in America as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding. The hurricane was the most costly in US history and one of the most deadly. It caused the levees of Lake Pontchartrain to break, which flooded 80% of New Orleans. About one million people evacuated the city while 25,000 stayed behind, many taking refuge in the city's Superdome.

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