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National Portrait Gallery Review

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National Portrait Gallery

Address: St. Martin's Pl., Covent Garden, London, WC2H 0HE | Map It
Phone: 020/7312-2463 recorded information
www.npg.org.uk

Category: Museums/Galleries
Location: Westminster and Royal London

Write a review | Avg. member rating: 4.2/5

Fodor's Review:

A suitably idiosyncratic collection that presents a potted history of Britain through its people, past and present, this museum is an essential stop for all history and literature buffs, where you can choose to take in a little or a lot. The spacious, bright galleries are accessible via a state-of-the-art escalator, which lets you view the paintings as you ascend to a skylighted space displaying the oldest works in the Tudor Gallery. At the summit, a sleek restaurant, open beyond gallery hours, will delight skyline aficionados. Here you'll see one of the best landscapes for real: a panoramic view of Nelson's Column and the backdrop along Whitehall to the Houses of Parliament.

Walking through the Photography Gallery, you could be flicking through the pages of an upmarket celebrity or society magazine for times gone by. In the Tudor Gallery—a modern update on a Tudor long hall—is a Holbein cartoon of Henry VIII; Joshua Reynolds's self-portrait hangs in the refurbished 17th-century rooms, and portraits of notables, including Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and the Queen are always on display. Other faces are more obscure and will be just as unknown to you if you're English, because the portraits outlasted their sitters' fame—not so surprising when the portraitists are such greats as Reynolds, Gainsborough, Lawrence, Romney, and Hockney. But the rotating collection's annotation is comprehensive, the layout is easy to negotiate—chronological, with the oldest at the top—and there's a separate research center for those who get hooked on particular personages. Don't miss the absorbing mini-exhibitions in the Studio and Balcony Galleries; and there are temporary exhibitions in the Wolfson and Porter galleries, which have ranged from Between Worlds: Voyagers to Britain 1700-1850 to contemporary fashion photography from Annie Leibovitz and Mario Testino.

Cost: Free, charge for special exhibitions
Open: Mon.-Wed. and weekends 10-6, Thurs. and Fri. 10-9, last admission 45 mins before closing
Tube: Charing Cross, Leicester Sq.

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Member Reviews and Ratings

Reviewed by bachslunch from US on 4/2/08
A good museum, though they collect paintings because of subject matter, not necessarily because of artistic quality. Nonetheless a fascinating gallery to visit. It's also free.