National Portrait Gallery Reopening

Exciting reopening of the National Portrait Gallery after a major refurbishment and rehang.

I have really missed the Gallery and was excited to get back! There is a new entrance with doors designed by Tracey Emin. I’m not sure they’ve gained much useable space behind it. There is room for a new shop but other than that it feels under used.

I got very grumpy early on. There is a new mural I wanted to see but, at the moment, it’s basically in a corridor with the most current pictures in the other side so it’s very popular and you can’t really see the mural.

There is an extra cafe but both are table service which wasn’t clear as one is also a thoroughfare! There is no way of getting a quick coffee! I will say though that the coffee and cake I had was delicious if a bit dear. 

I found old friends and made some new ones. There is a heavy emphasis on women which is fine and interesting but feel it does lead to some men going missing eg John Donne. I wasn’t convinced by a couple of modern works to fill historic gaps like a Lubiana Himid of Toussaint L’Ouverture.

The whole thing feels more like a museum of biography not portraits! There are very few biographies of artists on the labels unless the work is a self-portrait.

I was lucky at the end of my visit as it was the opening day and they had various re-enactors walk through London from places which were significant to them to the gallery in costume so we had Christabel Pankhurst, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Secole, Queen Victoria’s god-daughter Sara Forbes Bonetta, Shakespeare and Nelson. As I went in the shop they were gathered in the new entrance with Janusz, the Polish guy from Bake Off last year who’d made a cake. All rather charming.

I’m looking forward to the changes bedding in and visiting on quieter days.

UPDATE: I’ve been back and the ground café is now self-service. I asked what had happened and the server just said “Well that didn’t work did it!”. I also found there was a new run of galleries which I’d completely missed the first time with contemporary photographs and masks. Better signage would really help!

Reviews of reopening


Times

Guardian

Telegraph

Evening Standard

Review of Work in Progress Mural

Guardian

Review of Tracey Emin Doors

Times


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