Malala painting unveiled at London's National Portrait Gallery
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LONDON: The first painted portrait of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, goes on show at the National Portrait Gallery in London on Wednesday.
The one-metre height picture by Jonathan Yeo, one of Britain's leading portrait painters, shows the 16-year-old doing her homework.
It will be on display until January, when it will be sold to raise money for Malala's campaign for the right to girls to go to school, the gallery said.
Yeo painted Malala in Britain where she has settled since the attack in her home town in Swat in October, and he said it had been a “privilege”.
“Given how much she has already been through and all that she represents to the world, it took a while to adjust to the fact that she is still a very fragile teenager,” he said.
“Hopefully the painting reflects the slight paradox of representing someone with enormous power and wisdom yet vulnerability and youth at the same time.”
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Comments (17) Closed
Sep 11, 2013 03:09pm
Actually Malala Yousafzai has become the national heroine for few people, while others care calling her the controversial girl. The Malala attack has become a big discussion for Pakistanis, and she is roaming over the social media with latest news and rumors.
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Sep 11, 2013 04:37pm
The artist of this painting is obsessed with drawing Indians. Malala however is not just a Pakistani, but she is a pathan girl from Swat. Her complexion is fair and she looks brownish when she gets a tan. There is nothing wrong with portraying a brown skinned girl and there are soem beautiful painting of women with brown complexions. But the artist has not portrayed her with her natural complexion but more as a village girl from the plains. This seems to be to serve as a vehicle for propaganda in villages where girls are not getting an education. At least the portrait should have portrayed her as she is..
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Sep 11, 2013 05:25pm
Lovely portrait! Looks like my Dadi from the early 1900's!
I know there will be a lot of hate comments, so, can someone please explain why people in Pakistan are so against Malala? Why do you think she's executing some Western agenda?
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Sep 11, 2013 09:39pm
A beautiful painting of Malala. Her expression may equal that of Mona Lisa which was also painted in brown.
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Sep 12, 2013 12:18am
with such a prominent Star of David print on her sleeve...is it a coincidence, or just a design...or has a hidden secret message.
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Sep 12, 2013 12:36am
@Sonal:
I will put it simply.. The uneducated lot in India and Pakistan are the most vulnerable, are the easiest to be brain washed and always think there is a conspiracy going on against them. Since Pakistan is 65% illiterate, that is more or less the percentage of people who are either sceptical or outright in denial of the fact that Malala was targeted by the Taliban because she stood up for the right of girls for education...
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Sep 12, 2013 02:03am
@bkt:
If you browse others portraits by Jonathon Leo you will see that he tends to darken the subject. Look at his portrait the bodybuilder Arnold. Arnold is Austrian and white, but his portrait is tanned.
Thats the unique style of the artist.
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Sep 12, 2013 05:36am
@bkt:
I agree with the observation made about the colors used in the painting of Malala,but it will popularize her and her message of girls' education in Pakistan in particular and other Muslim countries in general.All in all it is an effort towards a good cause.
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Sep 12, 2013 10:34am
Next will be a statue at Madame Tussauds wax museum.
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Sep 12, 2013 11:48am
Please don't make God out of uneducated child, see what r doing these called getting mileage the cheap way, she is not even 19th grade passed and cannot speak on sentence in English rregards
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Sep 12, 2013 01:26pm
I'm not of any negative views about Malala's cause. But i'm really skeptical about the fame she's just rocketed on. What about other children who faced similar situations and ended up in worst conditions than her?. Why all this fame?. Where are the actual results of her cause?.
What good has all her cause and fame brought to Pakistan as a nation?.
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Sep 12, 2013 02:25pm
I will appreciate if the funds raised are monitored and checked for proper utilization i.e. in the interest of promoting education in Pakistan.
As according to current situation, any funds provided by foreign donors are used to fill ones own pocket rather than be used for the purpose they were raised.
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Sep 12, 2013 02:33pm
@Sonal: There are no hate comments. Bless Malala and her family. Its not easy to leave your homeland and start again.
No-one needs to explain. The only people "against" Malala are the people who are against her speaking out (Taliban etc).
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Sep 12, 2013 02:56pm
@Maryam:
And your point is...??
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Sep 12, 2013 03:27pm
Portrait is pretty good!
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Sep 12, 2013 04:06pm
Media should stop rubbing it in. Malala is loosing her charm. The story is becoming a bit boring.
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Sep 12, 2013 06:04pm
Very good to see that at least Western world has given her the honor that she rightly deserves. *Malala* reminds me of another fiery woman of this region--*Taslima Nasrin*. Mullahs in Bangladesh forced her to leave the country for her writings against religious fundamentalism and oppression of women. This is unfortunately what happens in this part of the world, to a progressive and secular minded woman who stands for the righteous cause of women.
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