Dancing with Eartha Kitt
The National Portrait Gallery in London continues to be one of my favourite spots. When I was younger, I quietly enjoyed its musty essence, with the great men (and they mostly were men) of history staring out of gilt frames - some works brilliantly executed - others less so. For me the NPG has always offered an eclectic visual history of Britain that has drawn me back to the NPG, time and again - to experience World War 1 generals or Victorian explorers staring out at me and imagining them sitting there while 19th century painters strived to achieve an acceptable likeness.
Having been closed since the start of the pandemic, the Gallery reopened in June this year - completely overhauled and with much greater emphasis on the women, as well as the men, who have shaped our world - and also responding to the social dynamics of our age; raising important questions about previously accepted ‘glories of empire’, and celebrating the social activists, designers and artists, as much as monarchs and political leaders, who have influenced Britain’s development - at home and abroad.
But one experience that has lingered strongly since my most recent visit, happened immediately before I passed through Tracey Emin’s amazing new bronze doors. There, seemingly dancing her way up St Martin’s Lane, was Eartha Kitt.
American singer Eartha Kitt by Russell Westwood, 1951. Reimagined in St Martin’s Lane in 2023
This was an advertising hoarding for the Gallery, using Russell Westwood’s image of the American singer from 1951. In his striking portrait, I believe that Westwood captured Kitt’s unique style and personality as one of the most famous performers of her age. I also think he has caught the passion and vigour that made her a fearless critic of the Vietnam War, and leading civil rights campaigner, particularly in her native America.
In making my image of Eartha Kitt, I have tried to use the street reflections in the hoarding glass to convey the sense that, although she died in 2008, the power of her personality lives on. And the causes in which she believed so strongly are still with us. The power of Westwood’s original photograph stopped me in my tracks. I hope that my response to his image offers the idea that an ethereal Eartha Kitt is still with us - as relevant today as she was 75 years ago - vibrantly unique - and still singing and dancing her way through London’s ‘Theatreland’.
