Events calendar

Photograph of the Month

1 May - 31 May 2013
Room 31
Free

The display of this important recent acquisition, Lee Miller’s Picnic Group including Man Ray and Roland Penrose, coincides with the exhibition Man Ray Portraits (until 27 May 2013) and the launch of a new online picture library by The Lee Miller Archives, drawn from Miller’s extensive archive.

Fred Daniels: Cinema Portraits

28 September 2012 - 20 June 2013
Bookshop Gallery
Free

This first solo display at the National Portrait Gallery celebrates the career of Fred Daniels, pioneer of British ‘Stills’ and portrait photography, and coincides with the publication of the first monograph on his work.

Henry and Catherine Reunited

24 January - 1 September 2013
Room 1
Free

A recently re-identified portrait of Catherine of Aragon, which is on long-term loan to the Gallery from Lambeth Palace, is displayed alongside a portrait of Henry VIII from the same period.

Queens and Consorts: Likeness in Life and Death

12 June 2013 - 28 February 2014
Room 3
Free
This display focuses on a small selection of portraits of sixteenth-century queens and consorts, pairing copies of the sculpted effigies from the royal tombs in Westminster Abbey with painted portraits.

Hidden: Unseen Paintings Beneath Tudor Portraits

3 January - 9 June 2013
Room 3
Free

Treason, Plots and Murder

26 May 2013 - 16 February 2014
Room 16
Free
The seventeenth century was witness to frequent and often gruesome plots, scandals and murders.

Diplomatic Dignitaries

18 December 2012 - 14 July 2013
Room 23: case display
Free

Spreading the Word: Bishops from across the Globe

15 July 2013 - 1 March 2014
Room 23: case display
Free
A selection of portraits of 19th and early 20th century Anglican Bishops from around the world. The display includes Bishops of diocese in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Africa and the Arctic.

Victorian Masquerade

22 October 2012 - 2 June 2013
Room 24 case display
Free
Explores the fashion for fancy dress in the 19th century with portraits of the royal family, aristocrats and artists in period costume.

Characters and Caricatures: Photographs by Herbert Watkins

3 June - 17 November 2013
Room 24: case display
Free

This display is the first staged at the National Portrait Gallery to celebrate the life and work of Herbert Watkins, and draws together a selection of important albumen prints from the rarely-exhibited Herbert Watkins album, acquired by the Gallery in 1985.

Portraits of G.F. Watts

19 June 2012 - 9 June 2013
Room 26: case display
Free
As well as being one of the greatest portrait painters of the period, G. F. Watts’s own striking appearance attracted the attention of some of the leading portraitists among his contemporaries.

Alexander Bassano: Victorian Photographer

25 March - 10 November 2013
Room 28: case display
Free
his display commemorates the centenary of the death of Alexander Bassano (1829–1913) who established one of the most important photographic portrait studios of the Victorian era. His sitters included royalty, aristocracy, politicians, and leading names from the military, sciences and arts.

William Nicholson Woodcuts

26 March 2013 - 2 March 2014
Room 29: case display
Free
At the beginning of his career, William Nicholson experimented with graphic art, producing hand-coloured woodcuts that were widely praised for the boldness and simplicity of their design.

Francis Goodman: Back in Focus

23 April - 3 November 2013
Room 31: case display
Free
Marking the centenary of the birth of this important photographer whose archive has recently been catalogued. Including portraits of Cecil Beaton, Francis Bacon and Noël Coward.

Cornelia Sorabji: India’s First Woman Lawyer

17 December 2012 - 11 August 2013
Room 31: case display
Free

Scandal ’63: The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Profumo Affair

30 April - 15 September 2013
Room 32
Central to the political scandal of 1963, Christine Keeler is represented by Lewis Morley’s much imitated photograph and a drawing by Stephen Ward, artist and osteopath to the establishment.

Patrick Heron: Studies for a portrait of T.S. Eliot

26 January - 22 September 2013
Room 32
Free

Heron’s portrait of writer T.S. Eliot is shown alongside rarely seen studies: from life-drawings to experiments in form and colour, revealing the process of abstraction for which the artist is best known.

Supported by the Quercus Trust

Jacob Epstein: Portrait Sculptor

28 March - 24 November 2013
Room 33
Free
One of the 20th century’s leading portrait sculptors, this display explores Epstein’s achievement and practice through busts of artists, writers and politicians from the National Portrait Gallery Collection.

Creative Connections

10 June - 8 September 2013
Room 37 & 37a
Free
Creative Connections is a four-year project connecting young people with contemporary artists to create a series of new artworks inspired by the Gallery’s Collection.

Susan Aldworth: The Portrait Anatomised

7 March - 1 September 2013
Room 38a
Free

Produced as part of a commission for Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Hospital in Westminster, the portraits by Susan Aldworth in this display depict three individuals with epilepsy. 

Portraits by Contemporary Photographers

29 September 2012 - 7 July 2013
Room 39a
Free

Every year the Gallery acquires around 300 photographs for the Collection, ranging from the nineteenth century to the present day. The works in room 39a reflect the broad selection of work by contemporary photographers that the Gallery has recently acquired, often through generous donation.

Humphrey Ocean: A handbook of modern life

23 November 2012 - 1 September 2013
Rooms 41 & 41a
Free
In 2006, Humphrey Ocean started making a series of portraits of visitors to his studio- a project which is ongoing.  Working swiftly in gouache on large sheets of paper in his studio, Ocean paints his sitters, including family members, friends and professional acquaintances, in simple forms and bold colours.