Vanity Fair Portraits

A stunning exhibition of Vanity Fair portraits at the National Portrait Gallery highlights the glamour and celebrity associated with the world famous magazine. Having run from the early days of the twentieth century, Vanity Fair is celebrating its longevity with 150 portraits of its most famous cover girls and boys.

Photos of stars from the early days of the magazine sit alongside other portraits from more recent times, with stars like Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein and Jean Harlow rubbing photographic shoulders with Madonna and Arthur Miller, highlighting the depth and breadth of the journals coverage.

And the stars are not just in front of the lens in this exhibition; many of the Vanity Fair portraits have been taken by some of the world's leading photographers, with Man Ray, Cecil Beaton and Baron de Meyer responsible for some of the striking classic black and white photos, and the likes of Annie Leibovitz and Helmut Newton creating the more modern portraits.

An inspirational and aspirational magazine from its inception in the twenties to its current American format, Vanity Fair covered a wide range of subjects. Actors, musicians, avant garde artists, athletes and plain old celebrities recieved the Vanity Fair touch of glamour and sophistication with an interview and a cover shot. James Joyce, Rebecca West, George Bernard Shaw and Claude Monet are just some of the big names from the early twentieth century that feature in the Vanity Fair Portraits.

Having suspended circulation of the magazine in the thirties, just before the war, Vanity Fair started up again in the 1980s, with images of modern men and women who caught the public eye. Iconic cover shots like the heavily pregnant Demi Moore and the Regans dancing put the journal back in the media highlights and Vanity Fair shot straight back to fame. Having recently covered 21st century girls Scarlet Johansson and Keira Knightley, both naked in their portraits, it is plain to see that Vanity Fair is still at the cutting edge of the magazine world.

An amazing collection of photos are on show in the Vanity Fair Portraits exhibition, and by sitting the classic images of Virgina Woolf and Josephine Baker alongside these stunning contemporary photos, it is possible to see just how much, and how little, has changed in the world of celebrity and the desire to be seen as glamorous in the public eye.

On show until the 26th May 2008, the Vanity Fair Portraits relate the history of a glamorous magazine and the even more glamorous celebrities within its glossy pages.

Due to the amazing popularity of the exhibition, the National Portrait Gallery has extended its opening hours on four dates to allow more people to see the portraits before the show closes. Vanity Fair Potraits will now be open until 11pm on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th, and Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd May.

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