London’s National Portrait Gallery re-opened in June 2023 after an extensive multi-million pound refurbishment with two blockbuster photography exhibitions.

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm featured images taken by Macca during The Beatles meteoric rise to worldwide fame, whilst Yevonde: Life and Colour celebrated the vibrant photography of a less celebrated though important figure in the history of the medium.

It is the latter exhibition celebrating the work of Yevonde (1893-1975) that has made a welcome transfer to the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne (until 20th April 2024).

Born Yevonde Cumbers in Streatham, London, she established her first studio in 1914 and embraced opportunities offered by the vibrant illustrated press to publish and promote her distinctive celebrity portraits.

However, it is her pioneering work from the 1930s with the tri-colour Vivex process that is celebrated in this engaging exhibition.  

From the moment you step into the Laing, your attention is immediately grabbed by the life-size posters promoting the show.

Such blockbuster shows are invariably over-crowded, making it difficult to enjoy the works on view and fully digest the information boards and labels.

But due to a time-consuming search for a parking space on a busy pre-Christmas Saturday, the exhibition was only an hour from closing when this customer arrived.

An unexpected bonus was that the Laing’s generously-sized rooms were quieter than expected and the 150 or so exhibits could be viewed close-up in greater detail.

Highlights were the wall devoted to Yevonde’s early monochrome work and her experiments with innovative double and triple portraits that appeared in publications like The Tatler and The Sketch.

The exhibition’s design, employing a variety of colours and painted effects as the backgrounds to Yevonde’s larger-than-life photographs, also worked effectively. 

Clare Freestone, the exhibition’s curator, features in a short film made to promote its London opening that underlines Yevonde’s pioneering role as a female photographer marrying commerce and art.

If you are within driving distance or a train journey away from Newcastle this Winter, I highly recommend a visit to Yevonde: Life and Colour.

It’ll certainly brighten your day.

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