Lily Allen has unveiled the original ‘West End Girl’ painting at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The piece, created by Spanish artist Nieves González, appears on the cover of Allen’s acclaimed album, which was released last autumn. The painting shows Allen seated against a dark background, wearing a baby blue puffer jacket with white polka dots. González is known for her classical oil paintings and contemporary reinterpretation of 17th-century portraiture.
The artwork will be on public display in Room 30 on the first floor of the National Portrait Gallery for one year. Allen has said she is ‘so pleased to make this special painting available for everyone to see,’ and that it ‘acts as a key to the whole listening experience’ of her album. The painting marks González’s first work to be loaned to a major UK public institution, and it has been praised by the National Portrait Gallery’s Director, Victoria Siddall, as ‘a striking work, deeply rooted in classical tradition yet unmistakably contemporary.’
Source: Original Article