The Queen, Freud, Warhol and

Paddington Bear

Sep 12, 2022

Lucien Freud paints the Queen.

Hailed by the Guardian newspaper as the finest royal portrait for 150 years. Others thought it made the Queen look like a rugby prop forward or one of her corgis. (Guardian, Mark Brown - arts correspondent - 26 Aug 2021)

The portrait has been criticised as well as loved. It is in the Queen’s private collection and will be lent out for Freud’s upcoming exhibition at the National Gallery later this year to mark his 100th birthday. Freud was born in 1922 and died in 2011. It is his first major exhibition in 10 years. For sure, the portrait of the Queen will be one of the most popular.

ANDY WARHOL’S QUEEN

Andy Warhol created these prints of the Queen in 1985. He sprinkled them with a powder of fine glass so they would shimmer like tiny, starry diamonds. The Queen’s images are part of a portfolio called: “Reigning Queens.” Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland were printed out millions of times.

The Tate holds an edition of the portfolio.

“Reigning Queens” opened in 1985 at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. Warhol later would write in his diaries: “I just hate George Mulder for showing here in America. They were supposed to be only for Europe—nobody here cares about royalty, and it’ll be another bad review.”

The Queen made no comment, yet she also made no demand for him to be stopped.

Warhol dances a wonderful line between respect and impudence

writes Christie’s online magazine - May 2022

Today, they are the most iconic and bestselling of his prints.

These prints and paintings somewhat reflect the inner persona of the Queen remarkably well, that sometimes unconventional, surprising-us-side, the humorous side, an inner world view.

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I have never really been a royalist, only interested in our history. And English history, like so many histories, has its dark passages. I have no need to write about this now. I would only like, in a few sentences, to convey my own feelings towards a person I have always known about.

I have a tenderness for the Queen. Why? Really, I ask myself, why?

Because she is and was that one person who has always been there, longer than my father and some friends, my jobs, my husband, flats, countries. She was there. And was still there until four days ago.

She was almost the same age as my mother, (mum is 92), and has moved along the same timeline as my mother, those same moments. Losing a father at a young age, facing the war, then peace, moving around countries, marrying young, four children.

My mother stayed up till 1.30am in the morning after the Queen’s death was announced. Why momma? “I was also saying goodbye to my own history,” Mum said. “I wanted to remember all those years passing by.”

One of the characteristics I like the most is the Queen’s quirky sense of humour. I hope this little film will brighten your day.

I leave you with this lovely moment that the Queen invites Paddington Bear for tea.

Jeanne