An artistic salute to Freddie Mercury and Queen's masterpiece. Press play on the video and start scrolling.

Artists featured in this Curation: Ross Sinclair (b.1966), James Durden (1878–1964), unknown artist, Ron Boyd (b.1946), Michael Morley, Kenneth Dingwall (b.1938), Thomas Holloway (1748–1827), Sarah Hocombe (b.1963), Charles Pears (1873–1958), Briton Riviere (1840–1920), and 88 more See all

117 artworks

Storyline Album Showcase

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Is this the real life?

I Love Real Life 2007
Ross Sinclair (b.1966)
Neon & perspex
H 26 x W 122 x D 8.5 cm
The Pier Arts Centre

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Is this just fantasy?

Fantasy exhibited 1930
James Durden (1878–1964)
Oil on canvas
H 95 x W 121 cm
Keswick Museum and Art Gallery

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The Avalanche at Lewes, East Sussex, 1836

Image credit: Lewes Castle and Museum

Caught in a landslide

The Avalanche at Lewes, East Sussex, 1836 1836 or later
unknown artist
Oil on canvas
H 66.6 x W 81 cm
Lewes Castle and Museum

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No escape

Escape 1972
Ron Boyd (b.1946)
Oil on canvas
H 182.5 x W 152.5 cm
Royal College of Art

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...from reality

The Far Reality c.1965
Michael Morley (active c.1965–1970s)
Oil on board
H 90 x W 60 cm
Heritage Doncaster

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Open your...

Open 1991
Kenneth Dingwall (b.1938)
Oil on canvas
H 235 x W 160 cm
National Galleries of Scotland

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Image credit: Wellcome Collection

...eyes, look up to the...

Four Eyes c.1794
Thomas Holloway (1748–1827) (associated with)
Pencil on paper (?)
H 12.3 x W 16.8 cm
Wellcome Collection

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...skies and see...

Skies from Dawn to Dusk 2007
Sarah Hocombe (b.1963)
Acrylic on mineral fibre tile
H 60 x W 60 cm
Queen Mary's Hospital

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I'm just a poor b(u)oy...

Southend-on-Sea Bathing Buoy 1934
Charles Pears (1873–1958)
Lithograph on paper
H 120 x W 100 cm
Southend Museums Service

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Image credit: Tate

I need no sympathy

Sympathy c.1878
Briton Riviere (1840–1920)
Oil on canvas
H 45.1 x W 37.5 cm
Tate

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Image credit: National Museums NI

Because I'm easy come...

The Easy Chair
Emily Grace Henry (1868–1953)
Oil on canvas on board
H 46.5 x W 37.9 cm
National Museums NI

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...easy go

Easy Chair 1977
John Cobb (b.1946)
Wood
H 81.3 x W 142.2 x D 152.4 cm
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre

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Little high...

High Energy Bar No. 53 1966
Walter De Maria (1935–2013)
Steel
H 30 x W 5 x D 5 cm
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre

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Little low...

David Low (1891–1963) c.1940
Mark Wayner (1888–1980)
Stone lithograph on paper
H 35.5 x W 24 cm
Ben Uri Collection

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Image credit: De Morgan Collection

Any way the wind blows...

Boreas and the Fallen Leaves 1910–1914
Evelyn De Morgan (1855–1919)
Oil on canvas
H 91.3 x W 119.8 cm
De Morgan Collection

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Doesn't really matter...

Space and Matter 1959
Sandra Blow (1925–2006)
Oil on board
H 151.8 x W 122.6 cm
Tate

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...2 me... (2 me)

Four Self Portraits – 05.3.81 1990
Richard Hamilton (1922–2011)
Oil & enamel on cibachrome print on canvas
H 75 x W 75 cm
National Galleries of Scotland

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[piano]

Piano Fragments 2002
Ciprian Ilie (b.1982)
Poster paint on paper
H 85 x W 83 cm
Royal Academy of Music

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Mama(n)...

Maman 1999
Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010)
Steel & marble
H 927.1 x W 891.5 x D 1023.6 cm
Tate

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Image credit: Sheffield Museums

Just killed a man

The Execution of Marshal Ney 1855–1865
Jean-Léon Gérome (1824–1904)
Oil on canvas
H 65.2 x W 104.2 cm
Sheffield Museums

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Put a gun against his head...

Gun 1981
Andy Warhol (1928–1987)
Acrylic & silkscreen ink on canvas
National Galleries of Scotland

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Image credit: The National Gallery, London

...pulled my trigger, now he's dead

The Execution of Maximilian about 1867-8
Édouard Manet (1832–1883)
Oil on canvas
H 193 x W 284 cm
The National Gallery, London

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Mama(n)

Maman 1999
Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010)
Steel & marble
H 927.1 x W 891.5 x D 1023.6 cm
Tate

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Life had just begun...

Newborn 2000
Michael Pegler (b.1952)
Granite
H 250 x W 160 x D 76 cm

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Sabrina Being Thrown into the River Severn

Image credit: Worcester City Museums

...but now I've gone and thrown it all away

Sabrina Being Thrown into the River Severn 1880
William Calder Marshall (1813–1894)
Bronze
H 190 x W 140 x D 110 cm
Worcester City Museums

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Mama(n)

Maman 1999
Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010)
Steel & marble
H 927.1 x W 891.5 x D 1023.6 cm
Tate

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Ooo-oo-oo-ooooh

The Madrigal Comes to England 2000
Austin Bennett (b.1942)
Stone & bronze

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Image credit: The National Gallery, London

Didn't mean to make you cry

The Magdalen Weeping about 1525
Master of the Magdalen Legend (c.1483–c.1530) (studio of)
Oil on oak
H 52.7 x W 38.1 cm
The National Gallery, London

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If I'm not back again this time tomorrow, carry on...

The Return of Ulysses
Hélio Domingues da Cunha (b.1948)
Oil on canvas
H 81.5 x W 65 cm
The New Art Gallery Walsall

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...carry on...

Sid James 1962
Ruskin Spear (1911–1990)
Oil & collage on canvas
H 122 x W 91.2 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London

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...as if nothing really matters

Nothing Much 1983
George Ralston Wyllie (1921–2012)
Paint on paper
H 76 x W 56 cm
The George Wyllie Estate

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[piano]

Piano Player 2000
Tim Davies (b.1959)
Oil on board
H 260 x W 220 cm
BBC

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Image credit: Tate

Too late

Too Late 1858
William Lindsay Windus (1822–1907)
Oil on canvas
H 95.2 x W 76.2 cm
Tate

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My time has come

Clyde Clock 1999
George Ralston Wyllie (1921–2012)
Stainless steel
H 600 cm

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Sends shivers down my spine

Spine 2004
Diane Maclean (b.1939)
Stainless steel
H 600 x W 60 x D 40 cm
University of Surrey

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A Dominican, with the Attributes of Saint Peter Martyr

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

Body's aching all the time

A Dominican, with the Attributes of Saint Peter Martyr about 1490-1500
Giovanni Bellini (1431/1436–1516)
Oil on poplar
H 59.1 x W 48.3 cm
The National Gallery, London

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Image credit: Royal Holloway, University of London

Goodbye everybody, I've got to go

Goodbye 1877
Tito Conti (1842–1924)
Oil on canvas
H 63.4 x W 45.7 cm
Royal Holloway, University of London

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Image credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Gotta leave you all behind...

A Lady Seen from Behind, Holding a Fan c.1700–1710
Luca Carlevarijs (1663–1730)
Oil on canvas
H 22 x W 9.8 cm
Paintings Collection

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Image credit: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

...and face the truth

Truth 1913
Francis Derwent Wood (1871–1926)
Bronze
H 186.5 x W 54 x D 64.5 cm
Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

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Mama(n)

Maman 1999
Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010)
Steel & marble
H 927.1 x W 891.5 x D 1023.6 cm
Tate

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Oo-oo-oo-ooh

Singing Children 1954
Judy Edith Massingham (active 1954)
Bath stone
H 100 x W 100 x D 30 cm

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Image credit: Walker Art Gallery

I don't want to die

The Old Man and Death c.1775
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)
Oil on canvas
H 63.5 x W 76.9 cm
Walker Art Gallery

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Image credit: By permission of Dulwich Picture Gallery

I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

Celebration of a Birth 1683
Richard Brakenburg (1650–1702)
Oil on panel
H 40.3 x W 54.9 cm
Dulwich Picture Gallery

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Image credit: Historic England Archive

[guitar solo]

The Guitar Player c.1672
Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675)
Oil on canvas
H 53 x W 46.3 cm
English Heritage, Kenwood

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Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

[by Brian May]

King Charles II c.1660–1665
John Michael Wright (1617–1694)
Oil on canvas
H 126.4 x W 101 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London

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[more guitar]

The Guitar Player
Stanislaw Frenkiel (1918–2001)
Oil on canvas
H 109.5 x W 75.5 cm
RWA (Royal West of England Academy)

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Image credit: Perth & Kinross Council

[key change]

Keys of the City, 1842 c.1842
British (Scottish) School
Oil on canvas
H 111 x W 68.7 cm
Perth & Kinross Council

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[opera section]

Interior of Covent Garden Opera House, London 1960–1965
Raymond Wylie (b.1935)
Oil on canvas
H 101 x W 127 cm
Museum of London

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Image credit: Glasgow Life Museums

[anticipation of operatics]

In the Front Row at the Opera c.1880
William Holyoake (1834–1894)
Oil on canvas
H 62.2 x W 81.3 cm
Glasgow Life Museums

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Silhouette of Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840)

Image credit: Royal Academy of Music

I see a little silhouetto of a man

Silhouette of Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840) 1832
Augustin Edouart (1789–1861)
Watercolour, pen, pencil, ink & silhouette on card
H 36.3 x W 24.9 cm
Royal Academy of Music

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Image credit: National Trust Images

Scaramouche

A Bay Hunter Called 'Scaramouche' 1819
Thomas Weaver (1774–1843)
Oil on canvas
H 68.5 x W 89 cm
National Trust, Calke Abbey

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Image credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Scaramouche

Scaramucia 1742
Andien de Clermont (c.1716–1783)
Oil on canvas
H 127.6 x W 45.4 cm
Paintings Collection

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Will you do the fandango?

'Fandango' 2001
Jane Harris (1956–2022)
Oil on canvas
H 57.5 x W 76.4 cm
Southampton City Art Gallery

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Winged Infant Holding a Thunderbolt with a Club and a Caduceus

Image credit: Moor Park Heritage Foundation

Thunderbolt and...

Winged Infant Holding a Thunderbolt with a Club and a Caduceus
Francesco Sleter (1685–1775)
Oil on canvas
H 105 x W 105 cm
Moor Park Heritage Foundation

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Image credit: The National Gallery, London

...lightning

Mountain Landscape with Lightning about 1675
Jean-François Millet the elder (1642–1679)
Oil on canvas
H 97.3 x W 127.1 cm
The National Gallery, London

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Image credit: The National Gallery, London

Very, very frightening me

A Horse frightened by Lightning about 1813-14
Théodore Géricault (1791–1824)
Oil on canvas
H 48.9 x W 60.3 cm
The National Gallery, London

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Image credit: Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library

Galileo

Galileo (1564–1642) 1884
Anne Susanna Zileri (1865–1965)
Oil on canvas
H 61.5 x W 51 cm
Science Museum

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Image credit: Queen's University Belfast

Galileo

Galileo (1564–1642)
Pio Fedi (1815–1892)
Marble
H 160 x W 76 x D 135 cm
Queen's University Belfast

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Image credit: Trinity College, University of Cambridge

Galileo

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer and Philosopher 1757
Allan Ramsay (1713–1784)
Oil on canvas
H 125 x W 99 cm
Trinity College, University of Cambridge

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Image credit: College of Optometrists

Galileo

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) 1859
Shakspere Wood (1827–1886)
Marble
H 59 x W 33.7 x D 27 cm
College of Optometrists

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Image credit: Hull Maritime Museum

Galileo

SS 'Galileo' 1892
Antonio Jacobsen (1850–1921)
Oil on canvas
H 55 x W 90 cm
Hull Maritime Museum

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Figaro

Susanna, Figaro, Basilio and Marcellina 1934
Ann Litherland (active c.1934)
Watercolour & pencil on paper
H 25.7 x W 36 cm
Glyndebourne Archive Collection

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Magnifico

Don Magnifico 1952
Oliver Messel (1904–1978)
Pencil, chalk, watercolour & gouache on paper, mounted on board
H 43 x W 30 cm
Glyndebourne Archive Collection

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Image credit: De Morgan Collection

I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

The Poor Man Who Saved the City 1901
Evelyn De Morgan (1855–1919)
Oil on canvas
H 115.6 x W 53.3 cm
De Morgan Collection

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Image credit: Portsmouth Museums and Visitor Services

He's just a poor boy

John Pounds Teaching Poor Children
Henry S. Sheaf
Oil on board
H 48 x W 39 cm
Portsmouth Museums and Visitor Services

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Image credit: Walker Art Gallery

From a poor family

Poor Relations 1875
George Goodwin Kilburne (1839–1924)
Oil on canvas
H 76.7 x W 106.9 cm
Walker Art Gallery

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Cybele Beseeching Saturn to Spare Her Child

Image credit: The Bowes Museum

Spare him his life...

Cybele Beseeching Saturn to Spare Her Child 1520s
Jan Gossaert (c.1478–1532) (circle of)
Oil on panel
H 124.7 x W 104 cm
The Bowes Museum

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Image credit: The Royal College of Surgeons of England

...from this monstrosity

A Monstrous Hare 1667
unknown artist
Oil on canvas
H 38 x W 48 cm
The Royal College of Surgeons of England

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[piano]

Saxon Sydney-Turner at the Piano c.1908
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas
H 18.5 x W 24 cm
Charleston

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Image credit: National Museums NI

Easy come...

The Easy Chair
Emily Grace Henry (1868–1953)
Oil on canvas on board
H 46.5 x W 37.9 cm
National Museums NI

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Easy go...

Easy Chair 1977
John Cobb (b.1946)
Wood
H 81.3 x W 142.2 x D 152.4 cm
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre

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Saint Mamas in Prison thrown to the Lions: Predella Panel

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

Will you let me go?

Saint Mamas in Prison thrown to the Lions: Predella Panel 1455-60
Filippo Lippi (c.1406–1469) (and studio)
Egg tempera, tempera grassa and oil on wood
H 27 x W 39.5 cm
The National Gallery, London

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Image credit: Courtesy of the Warden and Scholars of New College/Bridgeman Images

Bis(se)

Philip Bisse, Bishop of Hereford
Thomas Hill (1661–1734)
Oil on canvas
H 137 x W 108 cm
New College, University of Oxford

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Miller

Max Miller (1894–1963) 2003–2005
Peter Webster (b.1958)
Bronze & limestone facing over concrete
H 276 x W 60 x D 60 cm

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'No! We will not let you go!'

Choristers 1951
Thomas Saunders Nash (1891–1968)
Oil on board
H 55 x W 63 cm
Leicestershire County Council Artworks Collection

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Image credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

'Let him go!'

A Village Choir 1847
Thomas George Webster (1800–1886)
Oil on panel
H 60.4 x W 91.5 cm
Paintings Collection

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Image credit: Courtesy of the Warden and Scholars of New College/Bridgeman Images

Bis(se)

Philip Bisse, Bishop of Hereford
Thomas Hill (1661–1734)
Oil on canvas
H 137 x W 108 cm
New College, University of Oxford

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Miller

Jonny Lee Miller and Ethel 2004–2005
Stuart Pearson Wright (b.1975)
Pencil, charcoal & wash on paper
H 56.5 x W 45 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London

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'We will not let you go!'

Choristers 1951
Thomas Saunders Nash (1891–1968)
Oil on board
H 55 x W 63 cm
Leicestershire County Council Artworks Collection

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'Let him go!'

St Paul's Cathedral Choirboys 1976
Daphne Wakefield
Oil on canvas
H 140.5 x W 176.5 cm
St Paul's Cathedral

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Image credit: Courtesy of the Warden and Scholars of New College/Bridgeman Images

Bis(se)

Philip Bisse, Bishop of Hereford
Thomas Hill (1661–1734)
Oil on canvas
H 137 x W 108 cm
New College, University of Oxford

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Miller

William Miller (1810–1872) Plaque 2009
Graciela Ainsworth (b.1960) and Powderhall Bronze (founded 1989)
Bronze
H 85 x W 70 cm

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'We will not let you go!'

Choristers 1951
Thomas Saunders Nash (1891–1968)
Oil on board
H 55 x W 63 cm
Leicestershire County Council Artworks Collection

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Image credit: De Morgan Collection

Let me go!

The Prisoner 1907–1908
Evelyn De Morgan (1855–1919)
Oil on canvas
H 83.6 x W 68 cm
De Morgan Collection

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'Will not let you go!'

Choristers 1951
Thomas Saunders Nash (1891–1968)
Oil on board
H 55 x W 63 cm
Leicestershire County Council Artworks Collection

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Let me go!

Man behind Bars
unknown artist
Oil on paper & wood
H 72.4 x W 71.1 cm
National Justice Museum

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'(Never) Never let you go!'

Choristers 1951
Thomas Saunders Nash (1891–1968)
Oil on board
H 55 x W 63 cm
Leicestershire County Council Artworks Collection

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Image credit: Yale Center for British Art

Let me go!

The Prisoner 1787–1790
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)
Oil on canvas
H 40.6 x W 47 cm
Yale Center for British Art

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(Never) let you go (Let me go) Aaaahh [choir intensifies]

LNER Musical Society at Queen's Hall, London c.1927
Frederick William Elwell (1870–1958)
Oil on canvas
H 116 x W 140.8 cm
National Railway Museum

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No, no, no, no...

Four Hands 1983
Linda Drury (b.1954)
Oil & collage on paper
H 56 x W 48 cm
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum

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Laomedon Refusing Payment to Poseidon and Apollo

Image credit: The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

No

Laomedon Refusing Payment to Poseidon and Apollo 1600s
unknown artist
Oil on canvas
H 95.5 x W 80.6 cm
The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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Image credit: The Bowes Museum

No

Telemachus Refusing the Crown of Crete c.1790–c.1810
French School
Oil on canvas
H 111.2 x W 145 cm
The Bowes Museum

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Image credit: Walker Art Gallery

No

Cromwell Refusing the Crown 1861
Joseph Schex (1819–1894)
Oil on canvas
H 179 x W 215 cm
Walker Art Gallery

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Mamma mia

The Artist's Mother (Feu ma mère)
Laura Sylvia Gosse (1881–1968)
Oil on canvas
H 50 x W 60.9 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums

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Image credit: Manchester Art Gallery

Mamma mia

Mamma Mia Poveretta 1901–1906
Walter Richard Sickert (1860–1942)
Oil on canvas
H 46 x W 38.2 cm
Manchester Art Gallery

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Mamma mia let me go

Portrait of the Artist's Mother 1912
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976)
Oil on canvas
H 46.1 x W 35.9 cm
The Lowry Collection, Salford

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Image credit: Royal Academy of Arts

Beelzebub has...

Satan Summoning His Legions 1796/1797
Thomas Lawrence (1769–1830)
Oil on canvas
H 431.8 x W 274.3 cm
Royal Academy of Arts

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...a devil put aside for me, for me, for...

The Great Devil
Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002)
Fibreglass
H 245.1 x W 223.5 x D 99 cm
Glasgow Life Museums

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Image credit: Historic England Archive

MEEEE!

Man's Head Screaming* early 14th C
unknown artist
Stone
English Heritage, St Augustine's Abbey

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Image credit: The Wallace Collection

[heavy guitar riff]

A Young Lady Playing the Guitar 1669
Caspar Netscher (1639–1684)
Oil on oak panel
H 35.7 x W 28.1 cm
The Wallace Collection

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[more guitars]

The Guitar Players 1933
Kenneth Rowntree (1915–1997)
Oil on wood
H 24.5 x W 21 cm
Tate

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Image credit: National Trust Images

So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?

The Stoning of Saint Stephen 1623/1625
Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641)
Oil on canvas
H 178 x W 150 cm
National Trust, Tatton Park

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Image credit: Ferens Art Gallery

So you think you can love me and leave me to die?

The Death of Dido c.1665–c.1695
Daniel Haringh (1641–1713)
Oil on canvas
H 116.2 x W 115 cm
Ferens Art Gallery

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Image credit: East Dunbartonshire Council

Oh baby

Study of a Baby in a Bath c.1910
Samuel John Peploe (1871–1935)
Oil & charcoal on paper
H 22 x W 15 cm
East Dunbartonshire Council

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Image credit: The Bowes Museum

Can't do this to me baby

Venus Chastising Cupid 1760
Louis Joseph Watteau (1731–1798)
Oil on panel
H 26.8 x W 23.1 cm
The Bowes Museum

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Just gotta get out, just gotta get right out of here

Peter Getting out of Nick's Pool 1966
David Hockney (b.1937)
Acrylic on board
H 152 x W 152 cm
Walker Art Gallery

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[more guitars]

Guitarist
Clifford Hooper Rowe (1904–1989)
Oil on board
H 122 x W 61 cm
People's History Museum

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A young Woman playing the Guitar with a Songbird on her Hand

Image credit: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

[more guitars]

A young Woman playing the Guitar with a Songbird on her Hand
Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845)
Oil on canvas
H 42 x W 32 cm
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

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[slow down and... piano]

Miss Sophie Darwin at the Piano 1973
Frost
Oil on canvas
H 61.5 x W 72.5 cm
English Heritage, Down House

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Image credit: The National Gallery, London

Ooo-ooo-ooh, ooh yeah, ooh yeah

A Concert about 1485–95
Lorenzo Costa (c.1459/1460–1535) and Lorenzo Costa (c.1459/1460–1535)
Oil on wood
H 95.3 x W 75.6 cm
The National Gallery, London

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