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National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856 as the world's first museum devoted exclusively to portraits. It occupies a neoclassical building by Ewan Christian, from 1890-1895, on St Martin's Place, next to the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square, in Westminster. Its collection brings together portraits of historical and contemporary British figures in painting, photography, drawing and sculpture. It closed for three years for a £41.3 million refurbishment by Jamie Fobert Architects and reopened in June 2023 with a new entrance on Ross Place, three bronze doors with 45 reliefs of women by the artist Tracey Emin, and the Blavatnik Wing, nine galleries devoted to the 19th and 20th centuries. The first work to enter the collection, in 1856, was the Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare, painted around 1600-1610 and a possible basis for the engraving in his first published book.

Things to do at National Portrait Gallery: 3 missions

• Explore the Blavatnik WingGo up to the Blavatnik Wing, the nine new galleries devoted to the 19th and 20th centuries added in the 2023 refurbishment.
• Look at Tracey Emin's bronze doorsAt the Ross Place entrance, look at the three 4-metre bronze doors with 45 reliefs of women, a work by Tracey Emin installed in the 2023 refurbishment.
• Find the Chandos portrait of ShakespeareFind the Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare (NPG 1), painted around 1600-1610: it was the first work to enter the collection, in 1856.

Near National Portrait Gallery

Source: Web oficial de la National Portrait Gallery