Cecil Collins; Anthony d'Offay

by Jane Bown
gelatin silver print, 1981
18 7/8 in. x 12 3/8 in. (480 mm x 315 mm) image size
Purchased, 2009
Photographs Collection
NPG x133104

Sittersback to top

Cecil James Henry Collins (1908-1989), Artist. Sitter in 4 portraits, Artist of 1 portrait.
Anthony d'Offay (1940-), Art dealer. Sitter in 1 portrait.

Artistback to top

Jane Bown (1925-2014), Photographer. Artist associated with 73 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Jane Bown photographed art dealer and collector Anthony D'Offay and artist Cecil Collins when the former held an exhibition of Collins' new work at his gallery in Dering Street in 1981. The photograph was commissioned by the Observer for a feature titled, 'A portrait of the artist and his worldly dealer', 1 November 1981.

Placesback to top

Place made: United Kingdom: England, London (Anthony d'Offay's Dering Street gallery, London)

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Jane Bown Exposures (1 December 2009 - 18 April 2010)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1981back to top

Current affairs

Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral. A crowd of 600,000 spectators filled the streets to catch a glimpse of the Royal couple, and 750 million viewers watched the event on television. The iconic moment came when Charles and Diana appeased the crowds by breaking royal protocol and kissing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Art and science

Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musical Cats, based on T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, opens in the West End. The show ran for 21 years.
Brideshead Revisited, the 1945 novel by Evelyn Waugh, is adapted for television by John Mortimer. The lavish production featured an all-star cast of Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom and John Gielgud, setting the bar high for future TV costume dramas.

International

Pope John Paul II is shot by a Turkish gunman in St Peter's Square in Rome. John Paul was rushed to hospital where he recovered, and Mehmet Ali Agca was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.
HIV AIDS is identified in five men in Los Angeles.

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