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Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)

© the artist. Image credit: Royal College of Music

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Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) later described his years at the Royal College of Music (1930–1932) as a student of John Ireland and Arthur Benjamin as forming part of his 'very, very difficult musical adolescence'. The photograph on which this posthumous portrait is based was taken in 1947, when Britten was also consolidating his place as the central figure in the revival of English opera, with works such as 'Peter Grimes', 'The Rape of Lucretia' and 'Albert Herring'. Jeffrey Spedding has specialised in portraits of musicians, some – like this striking portrait of Britten – based on photographs. In this case the survival and rediscovery of the photograph, taken impromptu in a Copenhagen street by Frederick Vogt, was fortuitous: the artist Derek Hill found it in a junk shop there many years later.

Royal College of Music

London

Title

Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)

Date

1984

Medium

acrylic on canvas

Measurements

H 79 x W 45.9 cm

Accession number

PPHC000267

Acquisition method

purchased, 1987

Work type

Painting

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Royal College of Music

Prince Consort Road, London, Greater London SW7 2BS England

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