This major new exhibition brings together, for the first time, the works of four of the most celebrated figures in art photography, Lewis Carroll (1832–98), Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–79), Oscar Rejlander (1813–75) and Clementina Hawarden (1822-65).
Daily 10-6
The Tenth Anniversary Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 has been won by César Dezfuli for his portrait of a migrant rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the National Portrait Gallery has announced. The £15,000 award was presented to the Spanish photographer at an awards ceremony on Tuesday 14 November 2017.
15 November 2017
The Cezanne portrait show at the National Portrait Gallery follows hot on the heels of the show of portraits by Soutine currently on view at the Courtauld.
26 October 2017
Julian Opie makes his debut at the National Portrait Gallery with a selection of new works. It will accompany the Gallery’s self-portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)
9 October 2017
This display shows Sir Anthony van Dyck’s Self-portrait of c.1640 in the context of new work by Julian Opie, one of Britain’s foremost contemporary artists. Works influenced by Van Dyck and artists of the period are displayed in dialogue with Van Dyck’s self-portrait in the midst of the seventeenth-century galleries.
Open daily 10:00-18:00 Thursday-Friday until 21:00
The latest stage in the National Portrait Gallery’s endeavour to reach out beyond its original remit – paintings and sculptures, often of not much artistic merit in themselves, of worthy Brits – is a rather fascinating show of Old Master portrait drawings, lent from other British national collections.
21 August 2017
Super model Naomi Campbell rapper Tine Tempah, and Journalist/newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald, are included in thirty-seven black British musicians, actors, politicians, models and sports stars who will feature in a major new National Portrait Gallery exhibition. Opening next year, the exhibition will also include actor Sir Lenny Henry, singer Laura Mvula and actress Thandie Newton.
18 August 2017
Julian Opie has unveiled a new work to display alongside the National Portrait Gallery’s self-portrait of Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), acquired in 2014 after a major public fundraising appeal, as it returns to the Gallery following a three-year nationwide tour.
2 August 2017
The National Portrait Gallery is to receive £9.4 million from The National Lottery towards a £35.5m refurbishment programme, which will be the Gallery’s biggest ever development and its most significant project since the opening of its Ondaatje Wing in 2000.
15 June 2017
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexual behaviour in England and Wales, the National Portrait Gallery is running a year-long season of displays and events examining wider issues of representation, gender and sexuality and the way in which art and portraiture explore and question ideas about identity.
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Selected from 2,580 entries by artists from 87 countries around the world, the BP Portrait Award 2017 represents the very best in contemporary portrait painting.
Daily 10.00 – 18.00 Thursdays and Fridays until 21.00.
Contemporary artist Marlene Dumas (b.1953) displays portraits of Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas (1870–1945), also known as ‘Bosie,’ painted last year and exhibited in Artangel’s ambitious exhibition at Reading Gaol, Wilde’s place of incarceration.
4 April 2017
Howard Hodgkin died just two weeks before the opening of the current retrospective of his work at the National Portrait Gallery.
23 March 2017
Pairing the work of contemporary artist Gillian Wearing with the innovative early-twentieth century photographer Claude Cahun is an inspired choice by the National Portrait Gallery. Despite being born 70 years apart, the two female artists address similar themes around gender, identity, masquerade and performance.
9 March 2017
The first exhibition of old master European portrait drawings at The National Portrait Gallery will be staged this summer. The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt (13 July – 22 October 2017), will include works by some of the outstanding masters of the Renaissance and Baroque, many rarely seen, and some not displayed for decades.
16 February 2017
A large portrait of the former Director of the NPG Sandy Nairne by the US Photorealist artist Chuck Close has been unveiled. It is the first portrait by Close to be acquired by the Gallery and the first major work by the American artist to enter a British public collection.
14 December 2016
The first exhibition devoted entirely to portraits by Paul Cézanne will be mounted at London’s National Portrait Gallery. Cézanne Portraits will bring together for the first time over 50 of Cézanne’s portraits from collections across the world, including works never before on public display in the UK.
12 December 2016
The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled an exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales. It uses portraits of prominent gay figures to illustrate how attitudes have changed.
28 November 2016
A public appeal to acquire Sir Thomas Lawrence’s unfinished final portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, has been announced today, Thursday 3 November 2016.
4 November 2016
The Picasso portrait show now at the National Portrait Gallery and the big Abstract Expressionist exhibition on offer at the Royal Academy are both worth a visit.
25 October 2016
London is unusually rich in important exhibitions at the moment, and sometimes these events seem to enter into a dialogue… Read More
15 October 2016
The Belgian Artist Luc Tuymans is to display a selection of paintings at the National Portrait Gallery this autumn, it was announced… Read More
3 August 2016
Antony Gormley is to display a life-size sculpture suspended from the ceiling of the Ondaatje Wing Main Hall of the National Portrait… Read More
18 July 2016
A selection of drawings from the unseen sketchbooks of Lucian Freud, together with a newly-discovered self-portrait by the artist, have… Read More
15 June 2016
Black and Asian lives in Britain from the 1860s through to the 1940s are explored in a new display at… Read More
19 May 2016
London’s National Portrait Gallery has announced a major exhibition of portraits by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) opening this October. All phases of… Read More
11 April 2016
Portraits of leading figures of power from twentieth century including Castro, Pinochet and Brezhnev by the American artist Leon Golub are to… Read More
14 March 2016
The National Portrait Gallery in London is presenting a major new display of personal items, original manuscripts and works of art to… Read More
22 February 2016
A collection of Lucian Freud’s sketchbooks, drawings and letters have been acquired by the nation from the estate of Lucian… Read More
16 November 2015
Oliver Jeffers will publicly unveil his latest work in the ongoing ‘Dipped Paintings’ series in a temporary exhibition at 31 Henrietta Street in… Read More
11 November 2015
If the outlandish and often gimmicky world of contemporary art is too hard to digest, ‘Frieze’ week also offers some… Read More
20 October 2015
An exhibition devoted to portraits by the artist Alberto Giacometti opens at the National Portrait Gallery this week. The well… Read More
13 October 2015
