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HRH The Duchess of Cambridge and National Portrait Gallery Director Sandy Nairne at a gala in February. Image copyright Jorge Herrera.

Duchess of Cambridge attends National Portrait Gallery gala

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge and National Portrait Gallery Director Sandy Nairne at the gala Tuesday. Image copyright Jorge Herrera.
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge and National Portrait Gallery Director Sandy Nairne at the gala Tuesday. Image copyright Jorge Herrera.

LONDON – HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, attended the National Portrait Gallery’s ticketed black-tie fundraising Tuesday evening in which opera singer Sir Willard White performed alongside the Gallery’s Portrait Choir.

David and Catherine Bailey attended the Portrait Gala 2014 which was sponsored by the fashion designer Leon Max. Celebrities attending the event were Liz Hurley, Grayson Perry, Bryan Adams, Philip Treacy, Alan Rickman, Marc Quinn, Gerald Scarfe, Jonathan Yeo and Katherine Grainger.

In-kind sponsors of the event were Laurent-Perrier (champagne), Laytons (wine), True North (design), Banbury Litho (print) and Paperlinx (paper) and Milroy’s of Soho (spirits.) Other suppliers who have made the event possible are auctioneers Sotheby’s, caterers By Word of Mouth, florist Nicky Doodson and Fisher Productions for event production.

Funds raised by the gala will support the gallery’s daily work of delivering inspirational exhibitions and displays, offering unique learning opportunities and undertaking world class research. Some proceeds will go towards the Gallery’s Portrait Fund which enables the gallery to acquire portraits of outstanding national importance for the collection.

Gala guests will be able to bid in a live auction led by Sotheby’s Lord Dalmeny for auction lots which include the opportunity to have a head and shoulders portrait painted by Jonathan Yeo and Nicky Philipps or a group portrait by Peter Monkman, to purchase a study of Self by Marc Quinn, to co-curate the gallery’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2014 exhibition or to sponsor a conservation project.

A raffle will offer guests the chance to win one of 40 luxury prizes. These include a Giles Deacon dress, a Philip Treacy hat and a Stella McCartney handbag. Other items include two exclusive Race Club passes to the Revolution track cycling series from FACE Partnership, restaurant vouchers for Soho House, Sketch and the Portrait Restaurant and tickets for the Almeida, English National Ballet, the National Theatre, the Old Vic and Gate Theatre Notting Hill.

Richard E. Grant, Grace Coddington, Sir Paul Smith, Maggi Hambling, Gok Wan, John Swannell and Alex Katz are some of the artists who have contributed mystery portrait postcards. A special display of over 200 postcards, each card on sale at £250 plus VAT on a first-come, first-served basis at the Gala, will then remain open at the gallery through Friday for visitors to buy.

Marina Warner, Hilary Mantel, Esther Freud, Joanna Trollope, Sir David Hare, Sir Michael Holroyd and Dame Jacqueline Wilson are among those who have created hand-written pen portraits for the gala. Inspired by portraits in the gallery’s collection, pen portraits, offered at £500 plus VAT, have also been written by Ben Okri, Sir Max Hastings, A.S. Byatt, Amanda Foreman, Sarah Singleton and Sir Roy Strong.

Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, said: “The 2014 Portrait Gala is a great occasion of celebration, benefiting the gallery’s collection through the Portrait Fund and its work more generally. I am hugely grateful to all those who are helping make this possible, including very notable writers and artists.”