Freedom Smith
- Artist: Malgorzata Mirga-Tas
- Date: 2025
- Medium: acrylic and fabrics on canvas
- Dimensions: 66 7/8 in. x 47 1/4 in. (1700 mm x 1200 mm) overall
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
Before you is “Freedom Smith”, a 2025 portrait by Malgorzata Mirga‑Tas. Acrylic paint and fabrics layer the canvas, giving it a textured surface that feels almost three‑dimensional. The sitter sits relaxed, her face calm yet alert. Behind her bright textile strips—cotton, wool, perhaps silk—glimmer in blues and reds, framing her profile like a living tapestry.
Mirga‑Tas reuses Laura Knight’s early composition of English Gypsies but replaces the original painted garments with actual fabrics she has gathered herself. The collaged textiles give texture; they catch light and shift color as you move, making it feel as if Freedom steps out of a painting into reality.
Research uncovered her real name, Freedom Smith (c. 1913‑71), by tracing Knight’s work. Mirga‑Tas honors that discovery with vibrant fabrics.
See it in person
Freedom Smith is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
