Thomas Gainsborough: A Thirst For Visible Originality – Edward Lucie-Smith

After various adventures away from its traditional subject-matter – the recent Michael Jackson show being a case in point, the National Portrait Gallery returns to familiar territory with a show devoted to Thomas Gainsborough, by general consensus one of the most brilliant portrait painters to have worked in Britain. Native-born into the bargain, unlike his predecessors Holbein and Van Dyck.

27 December 2018

London Photography exhibitions

London’s Latest Must-See Photography Exhibitions

There are some thought-provoking and informative photography exhibitions on show in London at the moment. Ranging from the Barbican’s Another Kind of Life: Photography on the Margins which explores subjects on the edge of society to the four artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2018 at the Photographers’ gallery. Also just opened is the Victorian Giants: The Birth of Art Photography which shows together Oscar Rejlander (1813–75), Lewis Carroll (1832–98), Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–79) and Lady Clementina Hawarden (1822-65). Here is a selection of what’s on offer.

28 February 2018

César Dezfuli

César Dezfuli Wins Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

The Tenth Anniversary Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 has been won by César Dezfuli for his portrait of a migrant rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the National Portrait Gallery has announced. The £15,000 award was presented to the Spanish photographer at an awards ceremony on Tuesday 14 November 2017.

15 November 2017

Old Master Drawing NPG

Drawing As An Encounter Between Artists And Sitters By Edward Lucie-Smith

The latest stage in the National Portrait Gallery’s endeavour to reach out beyond its original remit – paintings and sculptures, often of not much artistic merit in themselves, of worthy Brits – is a rather fascinating show of Old Master portrait drawings, lent from other British national collections.

21 August 2017

Simon Frederick,

Black British Celebrity Photographs Acquired By National Portrait Gallery

Super model Naomi Campbell rapper Tine Tempah, and Journalist/newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald, are included in thirty-seven black British musicians, actors, politicians, models and sports stars who will feature in a major new National Portrait Gallery exhibition. Opening next year, the exhibition will also include actor Sir Lenny Henry, singer Laura Mvula and actress Thandie Newton.

18 August 2017

Julian Opie National Portrait Gallery self-portrait of Sir Anthony van Dyck

Julian Opie Creates Dialogue with Van Dyck’s Self-portrait At The NPG

Julian Opie has unveiled a new work to display alongside the National Portrait Gallery’s self-portrait of Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), acquired in 2014 after a major public fundraising appeal, as it returns to the Gallery following a three-year nationwide tour.

2 August 2017

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