People Watching: Over 100 Years of British Portraiture 

Over a hundred years of British portraiture with The Ingram Collection and Dorset Museum & Art Gallery
 
Exploring the concept of image and portraiture in British art, ‘People Watching’ will feature approximately 50 works of sculpture, paintings, drawings, and photography from 1915 to the present day. These internationally significant works of art from The Ingram Collection of Modern British Art will be showcased alongside our own collection, some of which have never been publicly displayed before.
 
Represented artists include Dame Elisabeth Frink, Robert Duckworth Greenham, Dame Barbara Hepworth, Anita Klein, Kofi Perry, Dod Procter, David Remfry, and Bridget Riley. The exhibition will explore how artists continued to develop portraiture into the 20th and 21st centuries, and how the idea of what a portrait can be has changed. It will examine self-portraits, portraits of people at work or leisure, how artists have captured their family members, and how they have utilised portraiture in fantastical and imaginative creations. Whether quiet and reflective or playful and provocative, each portrait invites you to consider what it really means to look — and be looked at.
 
People Watching continues in the Artists’ Dorset Gallery on the Museum’s second floor, presenting a compelling selection of photographs from the National Portrait Gallery’s renowned collection. The display brings together striking images by leading British photographers, offering intimate and revealing glimpses of some of the most recognisable figures of our time. Highlights include a rare, relaxed portrait of Marilyn Monroe, captured in the soft, fading glow of the Californian sun, alongside powerful and characterful photographs of cultural icons such as Elton John and footballer and activist Marcus Rashford. Together, these works invite visitors to reflect on the art of portraiture and the stories that unfold when people are observed, unguarded and authentic.