The rarely seen Audrey Hepburn

By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN

Published 1037 GMT (1837 HKT) June 4, 2015

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A 13-year-old Audrey Hepburn takes part in a dance recital in 1942. Rarely seen photographs of the late actress will go on display next month at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Images from "Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon" come from the personal collection of her sons, Sean Hepburn Ferrer and Luca Dotti. This is one of the exhibition's earliest photos, revealing the actress' first ambition -- ballet. Audrey Hepburn Estate Collection

In 1950, photographer Bert Hardy followed Hepburn "on a tour of Kew Gardens and Richmond Park, during a break from her punishing schedule for the revue 'Sauce Piquante' " in London, Helen Trompeteler, co-curator of the exhibition, wrote in an email. Bert Hardy/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Photographer Erwin Blumenfeld shot this image in 1952, and it was later published in Esquire magazine in 1956. Trompeteler wrote: "Hepburn's head is repeated into an infinite distance using a series of mirrors. The image is an outstanding example of Blumenfeld's skill as a photographer, and the composition is especially intriguing because it cleverly suggests the multifaceted nature of Hepburn's image." The Estate of Erwin Blumenfeld

Hepburn stands for a wardrobe test shot for the film "Sabrina," which was released in 1954. Costume designer Edith Head won an Academy Award for the film, and it is hailed as the start of a longtime collaboration between Hepburn and designer Hubert de Givenchy. Paramount Pictures

Bud Fraker, the director of still photography for Paramount Pictures, shot this portrait in 1954 for "Sabrina." Hepburn had won the best actress Oscar in 1954 for "Roman Holiday," and she was nominated in the same category in 1955 for "Sabrina." She lost to Grace Kelly for her performance in "The Country Girl." Paramount Pictures

Hepburn poses at her rented farmhouse near Rome in this 1955 photo by Norman Parkinson. She is wearing a Givenchy cocktail dress from the Spring/Summer 1955 collection. "The narrow waist and full pleated skirt of the dress are typical of the 'New Look' silhouette which was so popular in the post-war period," Trompeteler wrote. NormanParkinson Archive

Photographer Antony Beauchamp, who had previously photographed Hepburn for an ad campaign for the British department store Marshall & Snelgrove, shot this image of Hepburn in 1955, during the filming of "War and Peace." Antony Beauchamp

In addition to personal photos, the Hepburn exhibition showcases film stills, archival material and vintage magazine covers, such as this image that appeared on the cover of Life magazine on July 18, 1955. Philippe Halsman Estate

This photograph was taken in Central Africa while Hepburn shot the 1959 film "The Nun's Story." "Hepburn's strong connection with the role and her experiences at the time of filming foreshadowed her return to Africa decades later in her role as a UNICEF ambassador," Trompeteler wrote. Leo Fuchs

In 1954, photographer Cecil Beaton praised Hepburn as a new feminine ideal in British Vogue magazine, Trompeteler wrote in an email. When Beaton photographed her on the balcony of the Hassler Hotel in Rome in 1960, he went on to write, "She has now a new womanly beauty." The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby's

Hepburn appears as her "Breakfast at Tiffany's" character Holly Golightly on the cover of Jours de France in January 1962. Howell Conant

Hepburn poses in a Givenchy design in this 1966 photograph by Douglas Kirkland. More than a decade earlier, Givenchy's fashion had helped to establish Hepburn "as a unique star, far removed from the sexual 'pin-up' image of contemporaries such as Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell," Trompeteler wrote. Douglas Kirkland