Exhibition: The First Pin-Up Girls
A new museum show examines the mutual benefits gained by actresses and artists. (Pictured: Eleanor (‘Nell’) Gwyn, both by Simon Verelst, c.1680 and, right, c.1680-5.) The National Portrait Gallery’s “The First Actresses” tries to understand the phenomenon by looking at the careers of the pioneering ladies who – through beauty, talent, intelligence – rose to the top of the acting profession from the Restoration to the Regency periods.
