Queen as commodity, muse for artists and fans

For a lifetime, she was everywhere all at once.

Queen Elizabeth II was a history-making sovereign, to be sure, but she was also a commodity, an artist’s muse, a conduit for self expression on the street, many streets in fact, well beyond those of Britain.

At 96, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch died Sept. 8 after a reign of 70 years, but her visage lives on, including her world famous profile. She has borne sculptures, gallery works — a huge portrait in Kosovo made entirely of corn, peas and beans.

Artist Alken Pozhega makes a giant portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, made entirely of grain of corn, peas and beans in the town of Gjakova, Kosovo. (Photo: AP)

The world’s merchandise machine has produced enough tchotchkes to last another 70 years, perhaps. And they didn’t forget her beloved corgis that delighted fans.

During her weeks-long Platinum Jubilee celebrations that ended in June, the Sydney Opera House was illuminated in purple for the queen who said little about her private life as she went about her public duties. In death, her face was beamed onto the iconic structure, and an electronics shop in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, tuned every available screen for sale on news coverage.

Flower memorials spread quickly around the world.

From her tiaras, hats and Hermes scarves to her Launer handbags and even her umbrellas, the queen’s style has been hyper-documented since her birth, young princess days, ascension to the throne and through her sunset years.

She was neither a trendsetter nor trend follower, yet that face will remain on souvenir store shelves and in the hearts of fans who are also makers for years to come, long after she in memoriam profile done in glitter paint on a tree near Buckingham Palace is washed away.

A student, center, sitting on a mock-up of the royalty chair, looks at a wax figure of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, while others take souvenir photos, at the Madame Tussauds Museum in Beijing, China. (Photo: AP)

Bonhams employee George Foren poses for photographs with a rare trial proof copy of Andy Warhol's 1985 portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, at the auction house's offices in central London. (Photo: AP)

A salesman watches televisions showing coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, at an electronics shop in downtown Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo: AP)

A doll of Queen Elizabeth II sits on the console of Osprey helicopter transporting members of the media traveling to the arrival of President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Blenheim Palace near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. (Photo: AP)

Models wear creations with portraits of, from left, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, French Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on their skirts, by Italian fashion designer Gattinoni for his Spring-Summer 2007 collection at Rome's Auditorium. (Photo: AP)

The Sydney Opera House is illuminated with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in Sydney, Australia. (Photo: AP)

A life size cardboard cutout image of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II stands next to souvenir items inside the Cool Britannia store near Buckingham Palace, in London. (Photo: AP)

Workmen install a new mural by Frederick Wimsett, of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II to mark her 90th birthday celebrations, in central London. (Photo: AP)

A man walks by a painting depicting Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in London during the 2012 Summer Olympics. (Photo: AP)

Artist Carl Gabriel touches his sculpture made of wire depicting the head of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, made for the Jubilee Pageant, ahead of the Platinum Jubilee weekend. (Photo: AP)

Wellwishers holding a portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II wait for her arrival in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo: AP)

A view of a sculpture by London based Italian artist Matt Marga "One Million Queen" which depicts a profile of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in London. The sculpture has been defaced with Brexit graffiti. (Photo: AP)

A mourner with flowers carries a bag featuring an image of Queen Elizabeth II near the British Embassy. (Photo: AP)

A woman works behind a nutcracker displaying the British Queen Elizabeth II, right, in the Richard Glaesser company, manufacturer of traditionally hand-made wooden Christmas decoration, in the toy village Seiffen, eastern Germany. (Photo: AP)

A display paying homage to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II outside the Sloane Club and Sloane Place, in London, as part of "Chelsea in Bloom" an alternative floral art show which runs alongside the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, in streets and venues nearby. (Photo: AP)

A group of corgi puppets made by puppet maker Louise Jones each one an individual and based on past and present Royal corgis, part of 'The Queen's Favourites' for the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, in Coventry, England. (Photo: AP)