National Portrait Gallery - Events Calendar

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

5 November 2009 - 14 February 2010
Porter Gallery
Free

The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 celebrates and promotes the very best in contemporary portrait photography. Entry is open to photographers from around the world, aged 18 and over.

Irving Penn Portraits

Buy tickets

18 February - 6 June 2010
Wolfson Gallery
Tickets: £10/£9/£8

The exhibition includes over 120 exquisite prints, many vintage, ranging from his earliest portraits for Vogue magazine in 1944 to the present day.

The Indian Portrait 1560 - 1860

11 March - 20 June 2010
Porter Gallery
Free

BP Portrait Award 2010

24 June - 19 September 2010

Call for entries is now open. Closing date: 14 February 2010

William Beckford and Fonthill Abbey

Gallery Talk

Past event archive
9 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Phillippa Heath

Utmost Fidelity: Marianne and Adrian Stokes

Lecture

11 February 2010, 13:15
Ondaatje Wing Theatre
Free

by Magdalen Evans

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize Exhibition Tour

BSL

A part of Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009
11 February 2010, 19:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free but tour tickets required and available on the day from 17.00 on a first come, first served basis.

Artist Marc Woodhead takes a fresh look at the photographs and styles in this year’s Prize.

John Turville Trio

Friday Night Music

12 February 2010, 18:30
Free

Original music exploring the boundaries between contemporary jazz, tango and south Indian rhythms.

Restoration Portraits - Portrait of the Day

Gallery Talk

13 February 2010, 12:00
Room 7
Free

by Paul Johnson

The Rose and Lily Queen

Gallery Talk

13 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Lesley Rivett

Love Stories

Gallery Talk

14 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Marc Zakian

Talking Heads: Clay Characters

Family

15 February 2010, 11:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Explore different techniques and processes to make your own self portrait in clay.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Talking Heads: Clay Characters

Family

1 January 1970 - 15 February 2010, 01:00-14:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Explore different techniques and processes to make your own self portrait in clay.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Talking Heads: Jug Ears

Family

16 February 2010, 11:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Make a special clay portrait mug inspired by sculpture in the contemporary Collection.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Talking Heads: Jug Ears

Family

16 February 2010, 14:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Make a special clay portrait mug inspired by sculpture in the contemporary Collection.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Life Lines: 20th-Century Drawings

Gallery Talk

16 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Rosie Broadley

Talking Heads: Box Head

Family

17 February 2010, 11:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Build and decorate a head-shaped box to fill with all your thoughts and dreams.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Talking Heads: Box Head

Family

17 February 2010, 14:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Build and decorate a head-shaped box to fill with all your thoughts and dreams.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Members afternoon preview - Irving Penn Portraits

Members and Associates only

17 February 2010, 14:00-16:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

Talking Heads: Wireworks

Family

18 February 2010, 11:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Experiment with shape and scale to create your own wire model.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

London Stories: Black in the British Frame

Lecture

18 February 2010, 13:15
Ondaatje Wing Theatre
Free

by Stephen Bourne

Talking Heads: Wireworks

Family

18 February 2010, 14:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Experiment with shape and scale to create your own wire model.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Talking Heads: I-Spy Sculpture

Family

19 February 2010, 11:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Create a magic sculpture with a secret spy hole.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Talking Heads: I-Spy Sculpture

Family

19 February 2010, 14:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Create a magic sculpture with a secret spy hole.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Beyond the Face - Three-day Workshop

Workshop||Young People

17 February - 19 February 2010, 11:00-16:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free - Fully booked

Explore the images in Irving Penn Portraits and create a series of portraits focusing on dress, pose, body-parts and objects to express your interests and personality. Work with photography, text and image animation, culminating in a public screening. Led by artists Marianne Holm Hansen and photographer Tom Wichelow.

Beyond the Face presents...

Young People

19 February 2010, 17:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

Screening from the Beyond the Face workshop (17-19 February 2010)

Fbox Records with Alex Monk and Isnaj Dui

Friday Night Music

19 February 2010, 18:30
Free

Music that moves against the inorganic qualities of purely laptop-based material, embracing a more natural side of electronica.

Family Art Workshops: In A Spin

Family

20 February 2010, 11:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Make a 3-D portrait that moves and revolves.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Storytelling for Families: A Very Important Event

Family

20 February 2010, 14:00
Meet in the Main Hall

Imagine finding out your dad was going to be the Lord Mayor of London!

Suitable for ages 3+ and their carers. No ticket required. These sessions will last approximately 30 minutes.

Family Art Workshops: In A Spin

Family

20 February 2010, 14:30
Meet in the Main Hall

Make a 3-D portrait that moves and revolves.

Suitable for children aged 5+ and their carers. Free ticket required and available on the day one hour before the event starts from the Information Desk in the Main Hall. The session will last approximately 90 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per session, maximum 4 tickets per adult.

Self-Portraits

Gallery Talk

20 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Alison Kusner

Storytelling for Families: A Very Important Event

Family

20 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall

Imagine finding out your dad was going to be the Lord Mayor of London!

Suitable for ages 3+ and their carers. No ticket required. These sessions will last approximately 30 minutes.

The Two Marys

Gallery Talk

21 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Sylvia Paskin

Frame Stories

Gallery Talk

23 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Alan Read

The Real Desperate Romantics

Lecture

25 February 2010, 13:15
Ondaatje Wing Theatre
Free

by Lucinda Hawksley

Portrait of The Brönte Sisters

Picture descriptions

25 February 2010, 14:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

Picture description for visually impaired visitors.

Irving Penn Portraits Exhibition Tour

A part of Irving Penn Portraits
25 February 2010, 19:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free but tour tickets required and available on the day from 17.00 on a first come first served basis in addition to a timed exhibition ticket.

Join Eleanor Weber, curatorial assistant for Irving Penn Portraits, for a discussion of some of the key photographs in this exhibition. Weber assisted with image research, particularly in the Vogue archive, researched contextual and biographical information and wrote an extensive chronology for the exhibition

Marcus Farnsworth and James Cheung

Friday Night Music

26 February 2010, 18:30
Free

Marcus Farnsworth and pianist James Cheung perform a programme including Schumann’s Liederkreis Op.39.

Drawing Portraits Workshop

Workshop
Buy tickets

25 February - 26 February 2010, 18:00-20:30
Tickets: £60/£50 concessions and Gallery Supporters

Study and explore the drawn portrait through observation and experimentation in this one day or two evening workshop using the Gallery’s Collection as inspiration. Led by artist Marc Woodhead.

Highlights of the Collection

Gallery Talk

27 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Leslie Primo

Drawing Portraits Workshop

Workshop
Buy tickets

27 February 2010, 11:00-17:00
Tickets: £60/£50 concessions and Gallery Supporters

Study and explore the drawn portrait through observation and experimentation in this one day or two evening workshop using the Gallery’s Collection as inspiration. Led by artist Marc Woodhead.

Prime Ministers

Gallery Talk

28 February 2010, 15:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

by Marc Zakian

Members afternoon preview - Irving Penn Portraits

Members and Associates only

10 March 2010, 14:00-16:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

Members evening private view:
Irving Penn Portraits and The Indian Portrait 1560–1860

Members and Associates only

10 May 2010, 18:30-20:30
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

Members afternoon preview - BP Portrait Award 2010

Members and Associates only

23 June 2010, 14:00-16:00
Meet in the Main Hall
Free

Call for papers: International Conference

Conference

2 December - 4 December 2010, 10:00-18:00

This conference is part of a collaborative research project between the National Portrait Gallery, the Courtauld Institute of Art and the University of Sussex, called Making Art in Tudor Britain. Delegate booking for the conference will open in May 2010.