National Portrait Gallery, London
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National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HERecommended by
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Self-portrait in glass currently (2024) on display in room 28 on the second floorArtist, maker and date
Pauline Boty, c.1958Reason for highlighting
A striking, somewhat enigmatic image. Traditional motifs and techniques appear, such as the border with little quatrefoils and leaves. There are also hints of the avant garde which characterised Boty’s work. The cropping of the image across the top of the head concentrates the gaze, both of the viewer and of the subject, while the leadwork is idiosyncratic, notably in the line across her mouth. This is a statement, in defiance of the usual practice of framing faces without leadwork across the features. Boty’s biographer, Dr Sue Tate, argues that it could be a reference to the silencing of women. Another interpretation may be that she wished to indicate the beauty for which she was fêted was secondary to her art.
She holds flowers in one hand, with the other raised, perhaps in playful reference to the gesture of blessing in Christian art – or perhaps starting to form a circle, to indicate perfection. While the meaning is not clear, this gesture, combined with the direct gaze and enigmatic half smile, confers a mysterious, slightly formal appearance to the portrait.
Artist/maker notes
Pauline Veronica Boty (1938-1966) was a founder and the only woman member of the British Pop Art movement. A seminal figure, she was described by the novelist Ali Smith as the ‘incarnation of the swinging sixties’. She is best known for her paintings and collages but started her career as a stained glass artist after winning a scholarship to study at Wimbledon College of Art. She continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Arts, transferring to the painting school there. Neglected for many years after her tragically early death at the age of 28, renewed interest in her work has resulted in several exhibitions, articles and studies in recent decades.
Sources:
Pauline Boty: Pop Artist and Woman by Sue Tate, (Wolverhampton Art Gallery with the Paul Mellon Foundation, 2013).
The authorised website with links to a number of studies and articles is https://paulineboty.org/
Other comments
This is the National Portrait Gallery’s only work in stained glass. Another panel by Boty is on loan to the Ely Stained Glass Museum, but many of her other stained glass works have been lost.