Raqib Shaw's "The Final Submission in Fire on Ice" Acquired by the National Portrait Gallery

Raqib Shaw's The Final Submission in Fire on Ice (2021–22) is now on view at the National Portrait Gallery, London, following its acquisition by the museum for its Contemporary Collection. Housed in the Weston Wing, this collection explores art, society, and issues of personal and national identity through the expanding possibilities of portraiture.

Raqib Shaw (b. 1974, Calcutta) was raised in Kashmir amongst his family’s businesses selling jewellery, antiques, Persian rugs, and textiles, until political unrest forced them to relocate to New Delhi in 1992. Drawing from the visual language of sources such as Hindu spiritualism, Christian lore, Greco-Roman architecture, Mughal flowers, and Edo prints, his theatrical tableaux are populated with hybridized creatures, flora, and fauna. Although Shaw suggests specific references through images and titles, the worlds depicted in his work are distinctly born of his own imagination, filtering personal experiences through symbolic narratives.

The Final Submission in Fire on Ice (2021–22) is currently installed in Room 30, Floor 1, of the Weston Wing at the National Portrait Gallery.

To learn more, visit (opens in a new window) npg.org.uk.