The Balcony Gallery
© Dennis Gilbert/VIEW

The Balcony Gallery
© Andrew Pulter

ONDAATJE WING

The Balcony Gallery
Britain 1960-1990
The Pendulum Years

The newly re-hung Balcony display defines the period of Britain's changing status on the world stage. In terms of politics, the Labour and Thatcher years were played out against the backdrop of the Cold War and Europe. Industrial decline and unrest on the home front were reflected in the dynamic expression of popular culture in the media and the arts.

Newcomers, recent acquisitions and loans join familiar favourites in the redisplay. Old stagers like Harold Wilson, wreathed in pipe smoke, hang alongside outsiders such as John Vassall, the spy who went into the cold. A bronze bust of the black activist John La Rose joins peace campaigner Bruce Kent, while the artist Peter Blake's self-portrait now hangs near his iconic screenprint of the Beatles. Several portraits are back on display after a period of absence, including those of the actor Sir Laurence Olivier, the historian Eric Hobsbawm, Ruskin Spear's painting of Francis Bacon and the engaging portrait of chemist Dorothy Hodgkin by Maggi Hambling. A new selection from the Gallery's sculpture collection highlights the icons of dance, from the ballerina Alicia Markova to the ballet writer Arnold Haskell. Also on display for the first time is one of the Gallery's most exciting new acquisitions: 'Mr Art' (David Sylvester) by the American painter and political commentator Larry Rivers. Painted in London in 1962, this image of the distinguished and influential art critic is the first great Pop portrait to be acquired for the collection.

The screens, originally introduced in the Balcony gallery as light baffles, have been dedicated to temporary displays of light-sensitive material: works on paper, drawings, prints and photographs. The 'backs' of the screens, facing on to the Main Hall are also being hung for the first time, giving a valuable opportunity to display some of the collection's larger-scale portraits, including those of Bobby Charlton and Ian Botham.

Portraits on Display

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All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 07 January 2009