National Portrait Gallery acquires Marc Quinn's bloody head

view gallery VIEW GALLERY

'Self', Marc Quinn's visceral sculpture made of nine pints of his frozen blood, fast became one of the most recognisable works from Charles Saatchi’s collection of works by the "Young British Artists" in the 1990s.

When it was first exhibited, it drew gasps of repulsion and admiration alike. It created an even greater stir when it was reported to have half melted after Saatchi’s wife, Nigella Lawson, accidentally switched the fridge off.

Luckily, Quinn has made three more since the original, the latest of which has been bought by the National Portrait Gallery.

It is the first cast in the series of four sculptures - which Quinn has pledged to produce every five years to catalogue the ageing process - that has been bought by a museum collection in Britain. The other three sculptures are in New York, Dallas and Korea, both in private hands and public galleries.

Quinn, who said the work was inspired by Rembrandt's self portraits, refused to confirm whether the original had to be remade after the reported accident by Lawson, but said it was now fully in tact with its owner, the hedge fund billionaire, Steve Cohen, in New York.



This latest 'Self' shows Quinn looking older but wiser since his original from 1991 which took pride of place in Saatchi’s exhibition called 'Sensation' at the Royal Academy. It was bought for £300,000 by the NPG, with the help of The Art Fund, and Henry Moore Foundation, and it will be displayed in the gallery's permanent collection, in a case whose temperature is set at minus 18 degrees to prevent it from melting.

Quinn said 'Self' had been driven by his desire "to push portraiture to an extreme, a representation which not only has the form of the sitter, but is actually made from the sitter's flesh."

Quinn’s second 'Self', made in 1996, was bought by Texan collectors Cindy and Howard Rachofsky. It is now partly owned with the Dallas Museum of Art, where it will ultimately remain as a full gift. The 2001 sculpture belongs to the Korean collector, Kim Chang-il (known as C.I. Kim), who has a private museum in a shopping complex he owns in Cheonan, outside Seoul.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Arts & Ents blogs

Children’s Books: Recommended read – ‘A Monster Calls’ by Patrick Ness

Thirteen-year-old Conor awakes in bed one night to discover that the yew tree outside his house has ...

Made in Chelsea – Series 5, Episode 11: Louise plays and wins at Spencer’s game

It’s hard not to feel sorry for doe-eyed Andy. He spends months pining after Louise, has huge nostr...

The Returned: ‘Simon’ – Series 1, episode 2

Fragility of life looms large over an episode that closes with the scarring on Julie's stomach. Whil...

       
Independent
Travel Shop
Lake Como and the Bernina Express
Seven nights half-board from £749pp Find out more
Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian coast
Seven nights half-board from only £859pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from only £199pp Find out more
 

ES Rentals

    'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

    The true effect of the badger cull

    'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
    Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

    First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

    Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
    Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

    Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

    After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
    Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

    Steve Tongue

    Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
    Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

    Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

    Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over
    Hannah England: I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess

    Hannah England: Keeping Track

    I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess
    Beards, brawn and body art

    Beards, brawn and body art

    Meet London’s new batch of male models
    Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

    Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

    British love of shows such as The Bridge, Borgen and The Killing shows no sign of fading
    Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?

    The Great Green Wall of Africa,

    Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?
    Laughter Inc: the cheering growth of the chuckle industry

    Laughter Inc

    The cheering growth of the chuckle industry
    The bad science scandal: how fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research

    The bad science scandal

    How fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research
    To the manor born: The female aristocrats battling to inherit the title

    Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title

    A passionate protest is gathering pace among the women of Britain's aristocracy, who believe that men should no longer automatically inherit the family pile and title.
    Love struck: Photographs of JFK's visit to Berlin 50 years ago reveal a nation instantly smitten

    In pictures: JFK's visit to Berlin in 1963

    Photographer Ulrich Mack accompanied Kennedy on the entire trip. The results are an astonishing record of a watershed moment.
    Eat shoots and leaves: Mark Hix gets creative with fresh peas, mangetouts and sugar snaps

    Mark Hix gets creative with English peas

    English peas and their offsprings, such as mangetouts and sugar snaps, are great tossed into a salad, says our chef.
    Ceviche with a smile: Chef Martin Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends

    Chef Martin Morales: Ceviche with a smile

    Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends