Pauline Boty with Ali Smith / The Making of a Pioneer

You can see Pauline Boty’s self-portrait on display in Room 31 at the National Portrait Gallery. A striking work of stained glass, it is an early piece from what would be a short career. Though she died at the age of just 28, in her brief, vibrant life she made a wonderfully varied contribution to the world of British pop art and culture. After decades in the shadows, Boty has recently been rightfully placed among the masters of the movement, from Peter Blake to Richard Hamilton. Laura Barton meets the writer Ali Smith in front of Boty’s portrait, where she is joined by the curator Lucy Dahlsen. Smith’s book Autumn helped ignite a new appreciation and love for Boty’s work — its intelligence, mischief, feminist stance, and distillation of 1960s London. As Smith says, “when you are anywhere near her work in the flesh you feel the life, you feel the energy.” This podcast is a collaboration between TOAST and the National Portrait Gallery, London.