From Anne Boleyn to Elton John...National Portrait Gallery
Written: Jun 30 '05 (Updated Jul 19 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: FREE! Well-maintained, easy to navigate, great historical portraits, educational
Cons: Downstairs galleries are a bit confusing
The Bottom Line: It's lovely and absolutely FREE!
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| chelledun's Full Review: National Portrait Gallery (London) |
One of the wonderful things about attending school near Trafalgar Square is being able to use my break between my early morning and afternoon classes to pop into one of the nearby attractions. Located right off the square is the Natural Portrait Gallery, which is definitely worth a quick stop.
General Information
Like many other great destinations in London, the admission to the gallery is FREE. This makes it an ideal place to spend an hour before enjoying a relaxing lunch or stroll around Trafalgar Square. The National Portrait Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with a late opening on Thursday and Friday until 9:00 p.m. The museum focuses on paintings and photographs of prominent figures in British history. There are a few sculptures or other three dimensional likenesses, but the vast majority of displays are two dimensional. Occasionally a special exhibit will require an extra charge for entry. The layout of the museum is pretty straightforward. However, to maximize efficiency I find it is always a good idea to study the floorplan a little before your visit. A map is available at http://www.npg.org.uk/live/visitor.asp.
Ground Floor
The main floor offers various photographs of important contemporary figures in Britain. The pictures are of various size and shapes, colored and black and white. Most are plain photographs but others are computer enhanced or three-dimensional. The portraits are arranged in small rooms with white walls according to the artist. This actually makes things a big confusing, because some artists have a “theme” for their subjects (business people, politicians, etc.) other displays are a bit of a hodgepodge. This made the downstairs galleries a bit confusing for me, I just felt like I couldn't get into the flow. It’s still worth walking through, though, because some of the portraits are just fabulous. Although I was unfamiliar with many of the British businessmen and authors, I found plenty that I was familiar with. My favorite portrait was a lovely image of Princess Diana, looking happy and relaxed with her two sons.
Frida Kahlo Gallery
This is a lovely little exhibit featuring dozens of photographs of the famous painter artist native to Mexico City. Hopefully you won’t do the exhibit backwards, like we did! The photos go in rough chronological order staring with a large wall offering information about Kahlo’s life. Most of the pictures are mainly of her alone, but a few offer a look at her family and friends. The photographs are beautiful and interesting and demonstrate Kahlo’s sense of style. One of my friends made the comment that it was obvious that Kahlo had a very clear sense of herself, and this came across just through the photographs.
Historical Portrait Galleries
The largest (and most interesting, in my opinion) portion of the gallery is devoted to historical portraits. If you ascend to the second floor in the right place, it is possible to do a chronological journey from 1505 to 1837. The portraits feature kings, queens, and politicians. They are divided into four main sections: Tudor Galleries, 17th Century, 18th Century, and Later 18th Century and Early 19th Century.
Prominent historical figures are all displayed in regal clothing. There are images of Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas Moore, and King Henry the VIII. I had seen paintings of many of the historical figures before. What I really appreciated, however, were the portraits of many of the famous royals as children, or with their families. I don’t recall which, but one of the kings is shown as a small boy with his dog on his lap. These portraits helped me to feel a human connection with the monarchs who had always seemed like just big names in history books.
The paintings are all in remarkably good condition and displayed nicely with descriptive plaques. I enjoyed the Kit-cat Club exhibit a lot, but not because of the subject (a group of influential whigs). This display is really neat because 19 of the portraits are finished, but poor Richard Boyle’s is not and only his face is painted! It’s just funny because he is displayed in a frame alongside the others like a bizarre ghostly head. On the whole, history buffs will love this gallery and recognize many of the figures, and others will learn a thing or two about history from reading the plaques.
Coming Soon…
Arriving at the museum the second week in July is a delightful sounding exhibit called “The World’s Most Photographed,” which will be on through October. This display will feature photographs of ten of the world’s most photographed people:
Muhammad Ali, James Dean, Mahatma Gandhi, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, Adolf Hitler, John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Queen Victoria.
The focus will be not just on the photographs, but how these individuals used photography in various ways to enhance or modify their public personas. This sounds extremely interesting to me and I will be sure to update with information on the exhibit. I will be able to recognize all these figures, unlike many of the museum’s other contemporary figures! More information on this special exhibit is available at http://www.npg.org.uk/live/wowmp.asp.
Eating and Shopping
The Portrait Café, a cute little café, is available for light meals and snacks at the museum. One of my guidebooks recommends this as a great place to eat for a good value. The next step up is a fancier meal at The Portrait Restaurant. This roof-top restaurant offers fabulous views for those who can afford to dine there (not me). Entrees will run you about 15-20 pounds, but it might be a nice place to go for the special pre-theater meal special.
If you must spend money at this free museum, there is a Gift Shop as well as a Book Shop. One thing which is worth a look is the Portrait Printer. This machine allows you to print four different sizes of almost ANY picture in the collection! Very cool. The small size is 10X6, starting at a fairly reasonable 5 pounds. You can do this online as well at http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/ but I would assume the shipping costs would be a bit prohibitive.
Overall…
London's National Portrait Gallery is a great place to spend an afternoon, and less time-consuming than the National Gallery across the square. I would advise allocating the majority of your time to the historical portraits and less to the more contemporary exhibits downstairs which are a bit difficult to navigate. The museum is free and well-maintained, and I’m glad I get to be about a half a block away from it on a daily basis for the next five weeks.
*Planning a trip? Here's some other London Stuff!
British Museum
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
National Potrait Gallery
Natural History Museum
London National Gallery
Yummy, cheap food at Pret a Manger
Observations from my first week in London
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Students
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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