Opening the family album

by Culture Magazine

WHAT do Sir Walter Raleigh and Ringo Starr have in common?  The answer can be found at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens this month with the opening of a new exhibition.

Family Album brings together that which connects us all, from Tudor times to the present day.

Through paintings and photographs from the National Portrait Gallery Collection, we can explore the theme of family life and relationships.

And, of particular interest to those who can’t resist a chance to leaf through someone else’s photograph album will be peeks into the lives of the famous.

Highlights include pictures capturing fashion designer Vivienne Westwood with her granddaughter; the wedding of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr to  Barbara Bach; and  the families of former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Sir Winston Churchill plus author  Robert Louis Stephenson and the late Diana,  Princess of Wales.

Visitors can also see a remarkable portrait painted of Sir Walter Raleigh standing beside his young son.

Painted in 1602, it shows the Elizabethan adventurer’s eldest son copying the self-assured stance of his father.

Jo Cunningham, manager of Sunderland Museums, said: “The idea of ‘family’ means different things to different people and can be influenced by time, place and circumstances. However you define family, whether it is through relations, friends, faith, colleagues or community, these are the people who help shape our lives.”

Also  featuring in the exhibition will be a painting of composer Lord Britten and his partner Sir Peter Pears; and a photograph of Captain Scott’s birthday dinner in Antarctica in 1911 – showing that ‘family’ can be represented in many different ways.

Family Album runs at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens until October 5.

This is the sixth year the museum has worked with the National Portrait Gallery as part of an education  programme.

Visit www.twmuseums.org.uk/sunderland for information.