National Portrait Gallery

The café in the Gallery is really great. I often meet people here for lunch and the food is always fantastic.

This was probably one of my favorite places to visit in London. Within the wonderful space of trafalgar square and a beautiful view of the city in front. Just loved everything about it.

Why this place was significantly emptier than the National Gallery on the same block, I have no idea. I love portraiture, the uglier the aristocrat on the canvas, the more I know they paid the artist to have their likeness memorialized for all time. Taking into consideration the fact that America would not exist had it not been for the British empire, many of the older portraits featuring dozens of Kings, Queens and Generals made me realize exactly how far back our shared went.
As someone with an unnatural fasciation with the Tudors seeing portraits of Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I drove the point home that these people existed at some point and their actions affected much of the British secular and religious practices that proceeded them. The portrait of Princess Diana made me sad for a life cut too short but the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II posing sternly in a red cape re-​confirmed that she is a descendant of a great royal house, not to be trifled with. As a semi-​anglophile seeing the portraits of current day Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judy Dench gave me a small thrill.
There were couches in every other room, which was also nice as I was running my mother into the poor ground skipping from room to room. Quite importantly, there was also a significant amount of life-​sized sculptures of past monarchs in addition to more than a couple of dozen busts. My admission to the special exhibits were free via the London Pass but admission to the building is free, which is good, since the British pound is worth twice as much as the American dollar. Again, I love portraits of people and what those portraits state about history, so this is my happy place and I cannot wait to return.

M’intéressant quand même un peu à l’histoire de l’Angleterre, ma nouvelle ville de cœur, c’était plutôt une bonne idée de passer par ce musée.
Ici sont regroupés à peu près 500 ans d’Histoire avec environ 2000 portraits exposés et changés assez régulièrement (une collection estimée à plus de 110 000 œuvres il me semble). Chaque personne ayant joué un rôle important pour le pays y est représenté.
Cela va de Henry VIII à Kate Middleton (affreux portrait au passage) en passant par le minuscule portrait de Jane Austen, l’immense et magnifique Reine Victoria, la jeune et fraîche actrice Ellen Terry, ou Winston Churchill et Paul McCartney.
Ils sont regroupés par époque, puis par thème et on y passé facilement deux bonnes heures.
Il y souvent des expositions temporaires qui valent le coup mais l’entrée est assez cher contrairement à l’expo de base qui est absolument gratuite ! Pensez à acheter un petit plan (1£), c’est bien pratique. Wifi disponible partout dans le musée, audioguide, vestiaires, boutiques et restaurant tout en haut !

Not to be confused with the National Gallery next door, the National PORTRAIT Gallery seems smaller by comparison. Though it may not have the grand scope of the NG, it houses magnificent portraits of Shakespeare, Paul McCartney, Charles Darwin, and even the Queen herself. No photos could be taken of Kate Middleton’s polarizing portrait that paints her much older than she really is. Portrait art is great because the individual will always live on in the painting (or at least their likeness will).

The National portrait gallery was full of wonderful paintings, some of which I was familiar with, some with which I was not. It was a beautiful building and very calming to be in there.

A well worth trip into central

A l’origine nous venions uniquement pour l’Afternoon Tea situé au dernier étage du musée, les musées n’étant pas généralement ma tasse de thé.
Mais bon, après avoir bien mangé, il fallait bien descendre, et passer par le musée… Histoire de se donner bonne conscience, nous l’avons quand même traversé, de haut en bas, très rapidement, mais quand même assez sérieusement (être accompagnés par des étudiantes en histoire de l’art facilitait la chose). Je né serais jamais entrée ici spontanément et j’ai été agréablement surprise: les tableaux sont inégaux mais certains portraits sont drôlement bien exécutés, et c’est agréable de reconnaître les têtes ! L’ensemble donne un bon aperçu des personnages illustres de l’histoire d’Angleterre, des Tudors à Kate.
Conclusion: bonne promenade digestive artistique après l’Afternoon Tea !

My favourite gallery in London by far!

One of my favourite places in London. I love going to see the new portraits and the yearly Portraits Awards are something I never miss. Wonderful and beautiful.

Came here on a ‘drinks night’ with friends and really enjoyed myself.
The drinks part was so-​so (no red wine) but otherwise fine and dandy.
It’s about the art. Quite the collection here.
The portrait of Tony Blair made me laugh out loud, and got me a couple of hard looks from others. Whatever.
Had a great time, strolling from room to room, looking at paintings of the high and the mighty. Nice rack, Nell.
Historic and contemporary portrait art. Excellent!
Enjoy!

The ladies at the desk were kind enough to help my mom find any portraits of King Charles with his famed Cavaliers. So if you are looking for a specific topic or portrait, don’t hesitate to ask! Don’t miss all of the Tudor portraits.

This review is more about the National Portrait Gallery Café which is on the lower level. Its surrounded by the book store and has a ceiling of glass which creates a really cool feel. Its a super small car, most likely because of the larger National Gallery and its café next door. There could possibly be another in the Portrait gallery but this was the one we saw from the street.
I imagined while there that it would be a wonderful café to read a book in while it was raining outside, and therefore raining on the glass ceiling above ones head… not since this was my imagination I have no idea if it would be too loud with the rain… but needless to say it was quaint little café with strong rick coffee and fresh yummy pastries. I had a delicious almond cake.
The quaint size is also its downfall it was rather full after we had been there a while.

Went to see the Taylor Wessing Portrait Exhibition and as usual, I’m never let down by the National Portrait Gallery. It’s not a big exhibition this one, covered it in an hour, but as usual, great stimulation for the soul and mind.

One of my favorite museums in London. I prefer more the contemporary portraits (photographs) and the special exhibitions. I think it’s beautiful to portray people, ordinary or famous, in interesting ways through photography/​portraiture. It’s a lovely way to view the world, as seeing the best and most interesting elements of people.

Dutch Masters!!!

Pretty cool gallery, i personally like the older pictures on the higher levels with the history behind them than the modern ones like kate middleton lol. This gallery dosent take a lot of time to go through like the national gallery but I suggest looking up the most important pictures to see online before you come here if you are short on time (although this place is smaller, it still takes some time to get through). Oh, and they have those portable seats for you that fold up ^-^.
Def stop by this place is you have time, its near the national gallery and its free.

The National Portrait Gallery is an amazing museum, can’t believe you can get to see so many amazing paintings for free. The paintings are organised chronologically which as a bit of a history buff I really like as you can trace the major events and people who influenced them from the Tudors to the present day. There are portraits of so many important kings, queens, politicians, scientists, authors and artists its hard not to be blown away. Definitely worth a visit when you’re in London.

Die Gallery erreicht man wie viele andere Dinge in London am besten mit der Tube. Ich habe wegen Zeitmangel leider nur die Virgina-​Woolf-​Ausstellung besuchen können.
Das Gebäude ist schön groß und macht den Eindruck, dass man hier eine Weile bleiben möchte. Die wenigen Potraits, die ich gesehen habe, sagen das auch. Eintritt kosten nur die Ausstellungen. Auch das Pfund für das Schließfach ist weg. :-(Sonst ist es kostenlos. Na ja… Im Shop bleiben meist auch ein paar Pfünder… ;-)
Die Virginia-​Woolf-​Ausstellung ist sehr schön aufgemacht. Auch wenn der Eindruck von «wenig» für den Eintritt aufkommt, so war es zumindest mir das Geld Wert.
Das Personal ist wild darauf gedrillt, das ja nicht fotografiert wird. Sonst sind die aber eher britisch entspannt.
Fazit: Den Rest schaue ich mir auch noch irgendwann an.

It has been a longtime since I have been to the National Portrait Gallery and a lot had changed since but it was still very fascinating, especially if you are into history and timelines, or interested in particular people who shook the foundations of society. I particularly enjoyed the portraits and stories of some of the women who were the actresses of the day or involved in scandals!
Although it is largely laid out in a chronological historical timeline, because you are tracing portraits not necessarily artists, it has a slightly different feel to going round any other gallery, and the people do become more important than the artists — something which I think is a good and actually quite refreshing thing for those who go to galleries often.
Entry is free except to some specialist exhibitions. We only managed to get round half the gallery and a special WWI exhibition in the 2 ½ hours we were there so a return visit is on the cards.
Located just round the corner from the National Gallery which itself is on Trafalgar Square, it is worth a visit whether you are new to London or not.
Enjoy!!!
Xyz

Mucho más bonito e interesante que la National Gallery y sobre todo no tan lleno. Muy recomendable. Además es gratis, como todas las galerías de Londres.

This for me is the number one museum in London! It’s free, ver personal and you can’t beat the view from their restaurant on the top floor! Hours spent there taking pictures! Lol! Also the restaurant food is beautifully presented and super yummy and gourmet and service is excellent while they always have a different menu with a portrait on the other side. This time it was Audrey Hepburn (Roman holiday) portrait on the menu… I’m a big fan so that was a bonus for me ;)

I think there was a Guardian article some time back that referred to the NPG as «shiny» and «new.» I don’t know what it was like in past times but I can say it did seem very new-​ish indeed.
Where else can you see accurate representations of Mary Tudor, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, John Henry Newman, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Jane Austen, and other luminaries of the English-​speaking world?
As with many museums in London, the price is too right for you to miss it.

The national gallery was really great. The entry was free and there was enough place for our baggage! You will need plety of hours to really see every Picture here. There have been a lot of tourists but the atmosphere was really nice, everyone was quiete and looking for the great artists whose works were exhibited here. Next time when we will be in London we will defenitely come back and have another look or two!

Does what it says on the tin. This gallery is just full… absolutely FULL of portraits. Each portrait has a little description of the person in the picture and a little about the artist.
There was a photography exhibit on when I went which I really liked as it was a nice contrast to all the painted portraits. One of my favourite things to do in this particular museum is look at all the different clothing people wore throughout the ages. It’s so interesting to see how fashion has changed!

Lo mas destacado son los retratos de William Shakespeare, Enrrique VIII, la reina Isabel I, Lord Byron, Churchill, Darwin y a princesa de Gales

Personnellement je prefere la National Portrait Gallery a la National Gallery. C’est moins poussiereux, plus moderne. On y trouve quasiment que des portraits, comme son nom l’indique. Par contre ce sont aussi bien des peintures que des photos. C’est organise chronologiquement du haut vers le bas, les oeuvres les plus recentes se trouvent donc au rez-​de-​chausse et c’est surtout cet etage la que j’ai aime (j’aurai donne 5 etoiles pour le rdc mais que 2 pour les 2 autres, donc finalement j’ai mis 3 etoiles pour le tout).
Le 2eme etage est quand meme plus historique qu’artistique et le deuxieme né presente pas grand interet a mes yeux non plus (seule oeuvre majeure est le portrait de Andy Warhol de la queen, mais il n’y est pas toujours apparemment).
Par contre au rdc on peut admirer des portraits de personnalites contemporaines, des expos temporaires ou les oeuvres du BP Portrait Award.
Entrée gratuite sauf pour l’expo temporaire.

Pour les connaisseurs
Il faut connaitre avant d’y aller. On y trouve des superbes oeuvres de Mike Mc Cartney sur son frère Paul et surtout l’oeuvre mondialement connu de Andy Warhol avec le portrait de la reine. Public connaisseur c’est vraiment bien, les autres s’ennuyeront sûrement. C’est gratuit et ouvert le dimanche.

So british
La National Portrait Gallery est une institution typiquement britannique: elle présente les portraits des Anglais illustres, d’Henry VIII à John Major ! Les oeuvres étant choisies pour leur sujet et non leur auteur, elles sont de qualité inégale et vous verrez aussi bien des oeuvres de maîtres (de Joshua Reynolds à Lucian Freud) que de peintres beaucoup plus anecdotique. Mais c’est une leçon d’histoire sur l’Angleterre et aussi une façon de voir le regard que les anglais portent sur eux-​mêmes ! La National Portrait gallery pratique aussi une politique d’exposition très active (la plupart payantes), souvent fort intéressantes (jadis une rétrospective du photographe Lord Snowdon par exemple). Underground: Charing Cross, Leicester Square

Elle vaut le coup d’oeil
La collection rassemble tout un tas de portraits divers et variés, qui vont des Tudors au Prince Charles, de Paul Mc Cartney à Blur, etc. Vous y trouverez caricatures, photographies, peintures, et même une vidéo euh… artistique de David Beckham. A en juger par les visages conquis, et souvent amusés des autres visiteurs, la collection présentée fait l’unanimité. Se situe juste à côté de la National Gallery, que vous pourrez également profiter de visiter.

De Diana à Beckham
Des portraits de tous les anglais célèbres, en peinture ou autre (vidéo, photo, dessin…). Ça va de la famille royale, à David Beckham, et l’avantage du National Portrait Gallery, c’est que c’est gratuit. Vous pouvez renter, sortir, manger, personne né vous dira rien. Une urne est disponible pour les dons. C’est à faire si vous en avez le temps.