Categories Charity Gallery Personal and Family Life Philanthropy Summertime

Damian Lewis Attended Launch of National Gallery’s Fundraising Campaign for Bicentenary Celebrations 2024

The Alchemist’s Feast

by Alastair Sooke | The Telegraph | June 23, 2022

Damian attended ‘The Alchemist’s Feast,’ an inaugural summer party and fundraiser for the National Gallery’s Bicentenary campaign, NG200. Tonight’s event – which was held Thursday, June 23, 2022 in London, England – launched a fundraising campaign for the gallery’s bicentenary celebrations scheduled for 2024. “We do lots of things at the National Gallery which are very serious and scholarly,” says its director, Gabriele Finaldi. “So, it’s perfectly OK to generate some excitement and glitziness as well.”  Sitting in a sparse office overlooking Trafalgar Square, Finaldi – a deep-voiced, patriarchal figure, who, at 57, has already run the gallery for seven years – is referring to a red-carpet event taking place there tonight: London’s answer, if you like, to the extravagant Met Gala held every spring at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

National Gallery will exhibit a Van Gogh blockbuster as part of its 2024 bicentenary celebrations, provisionally being subtitled Poets and Lovers, and is scheduled to run from September 2024 to January 2025. Star loans include The Bedroom, Garden of the Asylum and—of course—the exhibition will show the museum’s own Sunflowers.

And Finaldi hopes that the party’s theme, “The Alchemist’s Feast”, will encourage guests to turn the base metal of goodwill into the gold of donations – because the gallery’s ambitious plans, which include a series of “significant” capital projects, will cost £95 million. Other guests in attendance included Sienna Miller, Olivia Buckingham, Jasper Conran, Ben Radcliffe, Sandy Powell, Emma Ridgway, David Grievson, Lara Stone, Geordie Greig, Kathryn Greig, Grayson Perry, Emily Beecham, Lily Lewis, Rish Shah, Iman Vellani, Hamish Bowles, Ikram Abdi Omar, Olga Kurylenko, Benedict Wong, Martha Ward, Joely Richardson, Tom Hughes, Alfonso Cuaron, Kim Hersov, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Beatrice of York, Nick Broomfield, Samantha Bond, Alexander Hanson, Marc Quinn, Joe Bromley, Sofia Blunt, Gabriela Peacock, Oli Green, Joseph and Sabine Getty and Ellie Bamber.

Continue reading Damian Lewis Attended Launch of National Gallery’s Fundraising Campaign for Bicentenary Celebrations 2024

Categories Books Merchandise Print Media

The Red Revolution: What it Really Means to Have Crimson Locks – Feb 12, 2018

New Book Celebrates All Things Ginger

by Murray Scougall | The Sunday Post | February 12, 2018

Source: Getty Images – Photo by Frederick M. Brown

Despite just 2% of the world’s population having crimson locks, they are over-represented in high-profile public roles.

But it might be too soon for them to have the last laugh, as it’s feared the redhead gene could die out by 2060.

A new book, Ginger Pride – A Red-Headed History Of The World, examines what makes red hair so special – and confirms they really are a unique breed.

“It started off as a look at historical figures with red hair, as I noticed there was a bit of a trend,” explained author and “proud ginger” Tobias Anthony.

“But I decided to widen it to look at other topics.

“One aspect I was really intrigued by was the myth-making, like accusations of being vampires and witches centuries ago.

“Redheads play a hand in almost every aspect of the world as we know it, from Vikings to royalty (by the time Queen Elizabeth I passed, Britain had seen 138 consecutive years of redheads on the throne) to medicine.

Damian Lewis said, “The redhead stock is very high at the moment. This might be a unique moment in recent history, redheads everywhere are doing well – Prince Harry, Ed Sheeran, Julianne Moore, me, Lily Cole.”

“I think once you have this type of myth and aura connected to ginger hair, there’s some attraction to it. There is something that makes you stand out and seems to captivate people in a certain way and it makes sense to want to ride on the coat-tails of that.”

Continue reading The Red Revolution: What it Really Means to Have Crimson Locks – Feb 12, 2018

Categories Events Helen Media Print Media

Damian Lewis Attends ‘Loving Vincent’ Premiere – Oct 9, 2017

Damian Lewis Attends ‘Loving Vincent’ Premiere 

by Julia Pritchard for MailOnline – Daily Mail – October 9, 2017

Damian Lewis at Loving Vincent Premiere, Getty

Damian Lewis was back in London to attend the Loving Vincent UK Premiere and live broadcast at the National Gallery on October 9, 2017.

The film,  Loving Vincent is presented as part of the BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express®, which runs from 4–15 October 2017; bringing the world’s best new films to venues across London.

Starring Helen McCrory, the film encapsulates the life and troubling myths surrounding the controversial death of Vincent van Gogh as told by his paintings and by the characters that inhabit them.

Helen was  joined by her co-stars and husband Damian Lewis at the screening in London.

The flagship Loving Vincent Exhibition will open in Noordbrabants Museum on 13 October 2017. The exhibition will contain 119 oil paintings from the film Loving Vincent, 10% of the paintings remaining after the filming process. 

Loving Vincent will be in cinemas 13 October 2017. For more information, please view the Loving Vincent UK premiere announcement and see our updated gallery.

There’s something familiar about Vincent…

Source: Loving Vincent Film & Getty

Continue reading Damian Lewis Attends ‘Loving Vincent’ Premiere – Oct 9, 2017