Title
Portrait of Peter O'Toole, 1995Date2019
MediumModern digital print
Dimensions
Image: 42 x 59.4 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 2019
Object numberNGI.2019.180
DescriptionDescribed as an "English Cartier-Bresson" by Lord Snowdon, Jane Bown started her photographic career in 1949 when her portrait of British philosopher and Nobel laureate, Bertrand Russell appeared in The Observer. Bown is admired for her straightforward, naturally posed, black and white portraits, usually taken with available light. She has photographed some of the world’s most notable actors, writers, artists and politicians including Samuel Beckett, Francis Bacon, Margaret Thatcher, and Queen Elizabeth II. In 1995 she was awarded a CBE for her outstanding contribution to photography. Bown is represented by 6 works in total in the NGI collection.Peter Seamus O'Toole (1932 –2013) was a British stage and film actor of Irish descent. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company before making his film debut in 1959. He achieved international recognition playing T. E. Lawrence in 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962). Bown photographed O’Toole during various stages in his life. The pictures underline a fast and intense aging process for the actor.