14 OF 15 
Queen Elizabeth II
14 of 15 portraits by Annie Leibovitz
© 2008 Annie Leibovitz, courtesy of the artist
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Queen Elizabeth II
by Annie Leibovitz
chromogenic print, 2007
34 in. x 49 in. (864 mm x 1244 mm)
Given by Annie Leibovitz, 2008
Primary Collection
NPG P1316
Sitterback to top
- Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022), Reigned 1952-2022. Sitter associated with 972 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Annie Leibovitz (1949-), Photographer. Artist or producer of 15 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This is one of a set of four magisterial photographs taken of the Queen in 2007 by the American photographer Annie Leibovitz. The Queen is shown in the grounds of Buckingham Palace against a brooding sky. She wears an Admiral's boat cloak, as worn in earlier portraits of the Queen by the painter Pietro Annigoni and the photographer Cecil Beaton.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Cooper, John, A Guide to the National Portrait Gallery, 2009, p. 64 Read entry
One of the Gallery’s most popular exhibitions, Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, was held from October 2008 to January 2009. This portrait was acquired by the Gallery s part of a generous donation by Annie Leibovitz comprising four photographs of Queen Elizabeth II.
- Moorhouse, Paul and Cannadine, David (appreciation), The Queen: Art and Image, 2011 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 17 May to 21 October 2012), p. 153 Read entry
In 2007 the American photographer Annie Leibovitz created four magisterial photographic portraits of the Queen, of which this is one. Here Leibovitz returned to themes explored by Annigoni in 1954-5 and Beaton in 1968. As in those earlier images, the Queen is depicted as a cloaked, solitary presence - Liebovitz even replicating the admiral's cloak used by Beaton. The result is a striking contemporary image that draws deeply on tradition.
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