In April 2023, the National Portrait Gallery announced its commission of a new portrait of Sir Nicholas Serota by artist and film director, Sir Steve McQueen. The portrait was commissioned with support from Scott Collins, in partnership with Outset Contemporary Art Fund, and was displayed for the first time when the Gallery reopened on 22 June 2023, marking the artist’s inaugural entry into the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection. The portrait was hung in the Weston Wing, the new permanent home for the Gallery’s contemporary collection.
Born in London in 1946, Sir Nicholas Serota is Chair of Arts Council England. Following a distinguished career in some of the country’s top arts institutions, Serota was made Director of The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, in 1973 and Director of Whitechapel Gallery, London, in 1976, before notably serving as Director of Tate between 1988 and 2017, establishing Tate St Ives and Tate Modern, which became the most visited museum of modern and contemporary art in the world. Under Serota’s leadership, Tate’s field of interest was broadened to include 20th-century photography, film, performance and architecture, as well as collecting from Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Curating important exhibitions such as Cy Twombly: Cycles and Seasons (2008), Gerhard Richter: Panorama (2011) and Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs (2014) at Tate Modern, Serota is an advocate for modern and contemporary art and artists. Throughout his career, he has supported emerging artists who have subsequently become some of the world’s best-known figures, as well as important regional institutions around the country through the Plus Tate network. Serota was awarded a knighthood in 1999 and was appointed a Companion of Honour in 2013 for services to art.
Sir Nicholas Andrew Sertota by Sir Steve McQueen (2022) was displayed in the Gallery’s newly restored Weston Wing. Supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation, the creation of the Weston Wing ensures that more space than ever before is dedicated to the display of our extensive and growing contemporary collection, returning original gallery spaces back to public use. These stunning top-lit galleries display the Gallery’s most exciting contemporary commissions and acquisitions, including this portrait by Sir Steve McQueen.
Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE, Director of the National Portrait Gallery said:
“Sir Nicholas Serota is one of this country’s most influential figures in arts and culture, so I am delighted that the Gallery has commissioned this portrait by Sir Steve McQueen, an artist whose work Nick has championed from the beginning. This feels like the perfect match of artist and sitter. The intimate photograph conveys a quiet gravitas, reflecting the ways in which Nick thinks from all angles, constantly looking to the future.”
Sir Nicholas Serota said:
“This portrait by Steve McQueen makes reference to the history of still photography and its intersection with cinema and film, but as ever in his work, Steve adds new language to that tradition, choosing to represent me in a way that quite literally shows more than one side. My friendship with Steve was the foundation for this portrait and I am delighted and honoured that it is the first of Steve’s works to enter the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection.”
In December 2023, over 40 supporters of Outset, the National Portrait Gallery and those involved with the commission of the portrait gathered to celebrate the work, as well as the 20th anniversary of Outset and the success of the Commission Series. The evening included a conversation with the artist and the sitter, led by Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE, giving some insight into the creation of the portrait.
