The Bank of England Is Considering Alexander McQueen as the Face of the New £20 Bill, Among Others
A public vote has resulted in 29,701 nominees as the face of the new bank note.
The Bank of England has just released a full list of British artists that are being considered as the face of a new £20 bank note. Thirty-thousand British citizens submitted a total of 29,701 of their top favorite (deceased) visual artists who have “helped to shape British thought, innovation, leadership, values and society” in a public nomination to the Bank of England over a two-month period. The final list of 592 individuals includes the likes of fashion designers Alexander McQueen, Thomas Burberry and Jean Muir, artists Francis Bacon, William Hogarth, Leigh Bowery, Derek Jarman, Lucian Freud, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Richard Hamilton and Pauline Boty, film directors Alfred Hitchcock, Tony Scott and Stanley Kubrick, and fashion photographers Corinne Day, Cecil Beaton and Norman Parkinson.
Chief Cashier Victoria Cleland stated, “I am delighted with the number of nominations we have received, and appreciative of the public’s engagement in this new initiative. The fact that so many visual artists have been put forward underlines the extent of British achievement in the visual arts and reinforces why this field deserves to be recognised on the next £20 note.” The Bank of England’s decision will be announced sometime in spring 2016, and the new note is set to be in circulation within the next 3-5 years. You can view the full list in its entirety here.
Who do you think deserves to be on the new £20 bill?
