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Libraries, museums and bookstores: National Portrait Gallery

Opening Hours

The Gallery is closed for refurbishment but as soon as it reopens, we will put the opening hours here. 

How to get there?

The National Portrait Gallery
St Martin's Place,
London, WC2H 0HE

The closest stations are :

  • Charing Cross
  • Picadilly Circus
  • Leicester Square

About the National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery, situated just at the back of the National Gallery, was founded in 1856. Before getting to its current building, the collection moved a lot - Westminster, South Kensington, Bethnal Green. The gallery opened in its current building in 1896. 

It was established by three men - Philip Stanhope, Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) and Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) - after three attempts at the House of Commons. 

Originally, it was decided by the Trustees that "No portrait of any person still living, or deceased less than 10 years, shall be admitted by purchase, donation, or bequest, except only in the case of the reigning Sovereign, and of his or her Consort". This rule changed in 1969 in order to encourage a policy of admitting living sitters.

The aim of the gallery is to promote through the medium of portraits the appreciation and understanding of the men and women who have made and are making British history and culture, and ... to promote the appreciation and understanding of portraiture in all media. 

It holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. 

The gallery closed in 2020 for a very important refurbishment project and should reopen in 2023. 

Exhibitions

The Face Magazine: Culture Shift

20 February - 18 May 2025

The Face Magazine: Culture Shift celebrates iconic fashion images and portraits from The Face, a trail-blazing youth culture and style magazine that has shaped the creative and cultural landscape in Britain and beyond.

This exhibition brings together the work of over 80 photographers, including Sheila Rock, Stéphane Sednaoui, Corinne Day, David Sims, Elaine Constantine and Sølve Sundsbø, and features over 200 photographs – a unique opportunity to see many of these images away from the magazine page for the first time.

Exhibition Page

Edvard Munch Portraits

13 March - 15 June 2025

Widely regarded as one of the great portraitists of the 19th and 20th centuries, Edvard Munch consistently produced intimate portraits of family, friends, lovers, writers, artists, patrons and collectors, together with an extraordinary range of self-portraits. With energetic brushstrokes, bold colour and a direct sense of engagement with the sitter, these works have had a strong influence on the portrait genre.

Edvard Munch Portraits is the first exhibition in the UK to focus on this important, but sometimes overlooked, aspect of the artist’s work. The exhibition shows how Munch painted portraits as commissions and for personal reasons, with many pictures doubling up as icons or examples of the human condition despite being based on the direct observation of named individuals.

Exhibition Page