National Portrait Gallery – Portraits of Twiggy
Leslie Hornby by Cecil Beaton, Norman Parkinson and Bryan Adams
Sep 11, 2009
Leslie Hornby, better known as Twiggy, was born 19th September 1949, in north-west London. To mark the supermodel's sixtieth birthday the National Portrait Gallery will mount a photographic biography entitled Twiggy: A Life in Photographs.
Twiggy – the World's First Supermodel
In the 1960s Leslie Hornby became internationally recognised as the world's first supermodel. She acquired her nickname, Twiggy, because of her super-skinny figure. In 1966, following the appearance in the Daily Express of portrait studies by photographer, Barry Lategan, she was named "The Face of '66". The waif-like girl captured the hearts and imaginations of every young woman. Girls went on strict diets in attempts to become as slim as the 60's icon!
The Photographers in Twiggy's Life
Photographers, such as Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Melvin Sokolsky, Ronald Traeger, Bert Stern and Norman Parkinson recorded every step of her career as she made her mark on British, and international, culture as a model, singer and actress.
Highlights of Twiggy's Career
Important landmarks in Twiggy's career will be on view in the exhibition. One of those early moments was her appearance in Ken Russell's film adaptation of The Boy Friend (1971). She received two Golden Globes for Most Promising Newcomer and Best Actress in a Musical.
Another important moment captured on film was her appearance in the Broadway musical, My One and Only (1983-4), which resulted in a Tony award nomination.
In May 2005, UPN's reality series, America's Next Top Model, announced Twiggy as the replacement for Janice Dickinson, the American model and actress, who stepped down as a judge on the programme.
In 2007 Twiggy became the face of Marks & Spencer's new advertising campaign, looking just as sleek as her co-stars. However, she has been known to say she's ready to grow old gracefully. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2007, she expressed her dislike of "poisonous" Botox and said breast enhancement surgery was something akin to "putting something foreign in your body".
Twiggy at 60
At the age of 60 Twiggy is still in demand, still looking very good, and now modelling for portraits by the latest generation of photographers including Bryan Adams, John Swannell, Mary McCartney, Steven Meisel and Sølve Sundsbø.
Twiggy is also featuring as an Adel Rootstein mannequin in the Pop Meets Fashion section of another exhibition at the NPG: Beatles to Bowie – the 60s Exposed. This show will be open from 15th October 2009 to 24th January 2010.
Twiggy: A Life in Photographs – the Publication
The exhibition will be accompanied by a hardback publication featuring more than 100 illustrations including portraits from the Gallery's own collections as well as Twiggy's private collection of images, news cuttings and memorabilia.
The book, introduced by Terence Pepper, the NPG's Curator of Photographs, also includes an illustrated chronology setting out Twiggy's career from the 1960s to the present day.
Twiggy: A Life in Photographs will be open from 19th September 2009 to 21st March 2010 and further details can be obtained from the National Portrait Gallery.
Sources:
- National Portrait Gallery, London, July 2009
- The camera doesn't lie: Twiggy shows off her real age at M&S launch, Daily Mail, London, November 2007
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