Glamour of the Gods at The National Portrait Gallery

Greta Garbo and John Gilburt

I have always been fascinated with Hollywood stars, especially from the Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn era. So today, when I saw there was a special exhibit at The National Portrait Gallery titled Glamour of the Gods showcasing original photographs of Hollywood celebrates from 1920-1960, I just had to take a look.

The exhibit had several photographs of so many stars, but three stuck out to me the most.

The first one was a photo of Greta Garbo and John Gilburt. The photo was taken by photographer Bert Longwort for the film Flesh and the Devil. The photo showed such intimacy and romance between the two. The description of the photo also mentioned that the two of them had an off-screen love affair that really ignited the romance in the films.

Rita Hayworth

The second photograph was one that jumped out at me and screamed woman power. The photo was of Rita Hayworth and was taken for the 1946 film Gilda. In this photo, Hayworth had on a beautiful ball gown and looked so elegant. She stood tall like a strong woman and had a charisma that no man could resist. In her hand she held a cigarette while exhaling smoke from her mouth like a real rebel of her time.

Louis Brooks

The last photo was my favorite. This photo had a real uniqueness to it and really stood out to me. It was a photo of Louis Brooks taken by E.R Richee. The photo is all black except for Louis’ hands, face, and a strand of long pearls. The contrast was beautiful and the whole imagery of it gave such a mysterious presence.

The whole exhibit was lovely and I would recommend it to anyone.

                         - By Jessica Thompson

   

More on the Glamour of the Gods tour

        

    After an amazing tour at Sky news, I decided to tag along with Jessica Thompson and Jessica Holiday to the National Portrait Gallery. The gallery is known as the largest collection of portraits in the world. It is located on Leicester Square.  The gallery displays exhibits of famous people who made British History.  Its free to enter the gallery and see most of the work, but we were so interested in touring the Glamour of the Gods; that we paid £5 with our student discounts. I was very impressed with the portraits that the photographers had taken. The Glamour of the Gods displayed many of Hollywood famous names such as Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, John Kobal and many more. I was very interested in reading the captures about the actresses and actors.  Learning how they all begin their careers in the entertaiment industry was not only educational but also, inspiring. The gallery greatly defined the person's history including birth city, education levels, and career paths.  Another thing that caught my attention was the clothing and make up in the portraits. The photographer was able to transform style into the photo using stylish clothes, make up and a little attitude from each character. I agree that all the protraits have a variety of excellent backgrounds and color schemes to make the photo look even more exciting and appealing to viewers. The Glamour of the Gods which demonstrates beautiful hollywood portraits, will be available to view between July 7th thru October 23th this year.  I highly recommend a visit to National Portrait Gallery. I am very honored to have had the chance to spend time with Jessica Holiday and Jessica Thompson today and got to witness this amazing gallery.

For more information, visit their website at

ww.npg.org.uk/glamour

                                                                                                 -- By Kaprisha Fields