Artworks by Bob Dylan are to be shown by a gallery in Britain for the first time, it was announced this week.

Twelve new pastel portraits drawn by the rock legend will be displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in London in an exhibition called Bob Dylan: Face First.

The writer of songs such as ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, Dylan has sold over 110 million records in his career but has also sketched and drawn since he was a child. His work has gone on public display only in the past six years however, and never before in Britain.

His portraits are an amalgamation of features from his life, memories and imagination.

Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: “Bob Dylan is one of the most influential cultural figures of our time. He has always created a highly visual world either with his words or music, or in paints and pastels. I am delighted that we can now share these 12 sketches which were made for display at the National Portrait Gallery.”