London, 20 June, 2001. - The thought of more than 30 busts on display normally conjures up visions of Page Three girls.
But a new exhibition opening in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street this week welcomes visitors to celebrate classical and contemporary portrait busts - the most common form of sculpture.
The Return To Life Exhibition: a new look at the portrait bust, is being officially opened on Friday by Ray Greenshields, Chief Executive of Zurich Financial Services' UK Life business. Around 800 guests have been invited to join Ray for the opening ceremony.
Commenting on the opening ceremony, Ray said: "We are very pleased to strengthen our support of the arts in Scotland, and do something tangible to highlight this forgotten art form. In supporting this innovative and contemporary exhibition, we hope to attract more visitors to the Gallery and share these wonderful works on display."
The exhibition runs until 2 September and admission is free. Zurich hopes its sponsorship will attract interest from Festival visitors plus family visitors throughout the summer holidays.
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery has jointly currated and organised this unique exhibition with the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds.
Sponsorship of the Return to Life exhibition builds on Zurich's support of the Salvador Dali Optical Illusion exhibition at the Dean Gallery in 2000.
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Zurich Financial Services (UKISA) is part of the Zurich Financial Services Group and comprises the Group's operations in the UK, Ireland and South Africa.
The Zurich Financial Services Group is a global leader in the financial services industry, providing its customers with solutions in the area of financial protection and asset accumulation. The Group concentrates its activities in five business segments: non-life and life insurance, reinsurance, Farmers Management Services, and asset management. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the Group's worldwide presence builds on strong positions in its three key markets - the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. It has offices in more than 60 countries reaching 35 million customers and employing 73,000 people. Based on consolidated figures for 2000, the Group achieved gross premiums of USD 50 billion. This amount includes insurance deposits as well as premiums from the Farmers P&C Group. The net income amounted to USD 2.33 billion. On December 31, 2000, the Group had USD 440 billion of assets under management of which USD 259 billion represent funds managed for third-party institutional and retail customers.
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