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Francis Alÿs

This event has now finished Until Sep 20 2009 National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE Full details & map

Art: Art museums & institutions

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Installation view of 'Fabiola', copies of a lost original, most by unknown artists Installation view of 'Fabiola', copies of a lost original, most by unknown artists - © Francesca Esmay

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Helen of Troy may have had the face that launched a thousand ships, but she's got nothing on Saint Fabiola, a Roman divorcée turned do-gooder whose mug - or at least a single depiction of it - has inspired countless Sunday painters around the world. Artist Francis Alÿs has made a pastime of searching for portraits of her, all copies of a long-lost 1885 original by the French painter Jean-Jacques Henner. The salon-style hanging of his entire fleet of Fabiolas - nearly 300 strong and growing - underscores the similarities shared by the images while highlighting the inherently obsessive nature of collecting art. (OW)

National Portrait Gallery details

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National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London WC2H 0HE

National Portrait Gallery

Portraits don't have to be stuffy. The National Portrait Gallery has everything from oil paintings of stiff-backed royals to photos of soccer...

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Transport Charing Cross 

Telephone

020 7306 0055

http://www.npg.org.uk

10am-6pm daily, until 9pm Thu & Fri

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