A trip to London’s National Portrait Gallery will always deliver paintings of historical figures, with Shakespeare, Henry VIII, and Virginia Woolf all getting the brushwork treatment. Its latest arrival, though, is something altogether a little more steeped in poppy revenge.
If you don’t recognise the album cover for West End Girl, then where have you been? The painting of Lily Allen by Nieves González was all you could see online towards the end of last year, after the singer dropped her new record in October.
Now, you’ll be able to see the work framed and sat in the iconic London gallery, where it will remain for a whole year, allowing fans of the artist to do some Ruminating while looking at the artwork, before moving on to look at photos of monarchs and bards.
Nieves González‘s work was put up in the gallery yesterday in room 30, with the piece marking the first work by the Spanish painter to be loaned to a major UK art gallery.
Speaking on the artwork going on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Lily Allen said: “I’m so pleased to make this special painting available for everyone to see. Nieves captured the feel of the album so brilliantly and I knew immediately it would make a very strong album cover.
“It seems to me the portrait reflects so many facets of the album – strength, power, vulnerability, determination and confusion, amongst many others – that it acts as a key to the whole listening experience.
“I love it. I’m so pleased to make this special painting available in the National Portrait Gallery, for everyone to see.”
Lily Allen is currently playing intimate live shows in the UK, performing West End Girl in full. Later in the year, she will perform a larger run of dates, including three nights at The O2 in London. She will also play a huge headline slot at Mighty Hoopla Festival in the summer.
View the Nieves González artwork for Lily Allen’s ‘West End Girl’ in room 30 of the National Portrait Gallery, where it will be on display for the next year.
