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National Portrait Gallery (England)
Encyclopedia
The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery
in London
, England
, housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people
. It was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856. The gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martin's Place, off Trafalgar Square
, and adjoining the National Gallery. It has been expanded twice since then. The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) also has three regional outposts at Beningbrough Hall
, Bodelwyddan Castle
and Montacute House
. It is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
in Edinburgh
, with which its remit overlaps. The gallery is a non-departmental public body
sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
.
The gallery houses portrait
s of historically important and famous British people
, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter, not that of the artist. The collection includes photograph
s and caricature
s as well as painting
s, drawing
s and sculpture
. One of its best-known images is the Chandos portrait
, the most famous portrait of William Shakespeare
although there is some uncertainty as to if the painting actually is of the playwright.
Not all of the portraits are exceptional artistically, although there are self-portraits by William Hogarth
, Sir Joshua Reynolds
and other British artists of note. Some, such as the group portrait of the participants in the Somerset House
Conference of 1604, are important historical documents in their own right. Often the curiosity value is greater than the artistic worth of a work, as in the case of the anamorphic portrait of Edward VI
by William Scrots
, Patrick Branwell Brontë
's painting of his sisters Charlotte
, Emily
and Anne
, or a sculpture of Queen Victoria
and Prince Albert in medieval costume. Portraits of living figures were allowed from 1969. In addition to its permanent galleries of historical portraits, the National Portrait Gallery exhibits a rapidly changing collection of contemporary work, stages exhibitions of portrait art by individual artists and hosts the annual BP Portrait Prize
competition.
(to Stanhope's left) and Thomas Carlyle
(to Stanhope's right). It was Stanhope who, in 1846 as a Member of Parliament (MP), first proposed the idea of a National Portrait Gallery. It was not until his third attempt, in 1856, this time from the House of Lords, that the proposal was accepted. With Queen Victoria's approval, the House of Commons set aside a sum of £2000 to establish the gallery. As well as Stanhope and Macaulay, the founder Trustees included Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Ellesmere. It was the latter who donated the Chandos portrait
to the nation as the gallery's first portrait. Carlyle became a trustee after the death of Ellesmere in 1857.
For the first 40 years, the gallery was housed in various locations in London. The first 13 years were spent at 29 Great George Street, Westminster
. There, the collection increased in size from 57 to 208 items, and the number of visitors from 5,300 to 34,500. In 1869, the collection moved to Exhibition Road
and buildings managed by the Royal Horticultural Society
. Following a fire in those buildings, the collection was moved in 1885, this time to the Bethnal Green Museum. This location was ultimately unsuitable due to its distance from the West End
, condensation and lack of waterproofing. Following calls for a new location to be found, the government accepted an offer of funds from the philanthropist William Henry Alexander. Alexander donated £60,000 followed by another £20,000, and also chose the architect, Ewan Christian
. The government provided the new site, St Martin's Place, adjacent to the National Gallery
, and £16,000. The buildings, faced in Portland stone
, were constructed by Shillitoe & Son. Both the architect, Ewan Christian, and the gallery's first director, George Scharf
, died shortly before the new building was completed. The gallery opened at its new location on 4 April 1896.
The site has since been expanded twice. The first extension, in 1933, was funded by Lord Duveen
, and resulted in the wing by architect Sir Richard Allison
that runs along Orange Street.
The second extension was funded by Sir Christopher Ondaatje
and a £12m Heritage Lottery Fund
grant, and was designed by London based architects Edward Jones
and Jeremy Dixon. The Ondaatje Wing opened in 2000 and occupies a narrow space of land between the two 19th-century buildings of the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, and is notable for its immense, two-storey escalator that takes visitors to the earliest part of the collection, the Tudor
portraits.
In January 2008, the Gallery received its largest single donation to date, a £5m gift from Aston Villa Chairman and U.S. billionaire Randy Lerner
.
, William Faithorne
, Edmund Lodge
, Thomas Fuller
, The Earl of Clarendon
, Horace Walpole, Hans Holbein the Younger
, Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Sir Peter Lely, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Louis François Roubiliac, William Hogarth
, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Sir Francis Chantrey.
(£7,038,000) and donations (£4,117,000). As of 31 March 2008, it's net assets
amounted to £69,251,000. In 2008, the NPG had 218 full-time equivalent
employees. It is an exempt charity
under English law.
, who downloaded thousands of high-resolution reproductions of public domain
paintings from the NPG website, and placed them on Wikipedia's sister media repository site, Wikimedia Commons
.The user "found a way to get around their software and download hi-resolution images without permission."
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
. It was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856. The gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martin's Place, off Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
, and adjoining the National Gallery. It has been expanded twice since then. The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) also has three regional outposts at Beningbrough Hall
Beningbrough Hall
Beningbrough Hall is a large Georgian mansion near the village of Beningbrough, North Yorkshire, England overlooking the River Ouse. It boasts one of Britain's finest baroque interiors and an attractive walled garden, as well as being home to over 100 portraits on loan from the National Portrait...
, Bodelwyddan Castle
Bodelwyddan Castle
Bodelwyddan Castle, close to the village of Bodelwyddan, near Rhyl, Denbighshire in Wales, was built around 1460 by the Humphreys family of Anglesey as a manor house. Its most important association was with the Williams-Wynn family, which extended for around 200 years from 1690...
and Montacute House
Montacute House
Montacute House is a late Elizabethan country house situated in the South Somerset village of Montacute. This house is a textbook example of English architecture during a period that was moving from the medieval Gothic to the Renaissance Classical; this has resulted in Montacute being regarded as...
. It is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery on Queen Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. It holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. In addition it also holds the Scottish National Photography Collection...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, with which its remit overlaps. The gallery is a non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
.
The collection
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s of historically important and famous British people
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter, not that of the artist. The collection includes photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s and caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s as well as painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s, drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s and sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
. One of its best-known images is the Chandos portrait
Chandos portrait
The "Chandos" portrait is one of the most famous of the portraits that may depict William Shakespeare . Believed to have been painted from life between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the First Folio in 1623. It is named after James...
, the most famous portrait of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
although there is some uncertainty as to if the painting actually is of the playwright.
Not all of the portraits are exceptional artistically, although there are self-portraits by William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
, Sir Joshua Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
and other British artists of note. Some, such as the group portrait of the participants in the Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
Conference of 1604, are important historical documents in their own right. Often the curiosity value is greater than the artistic worth of a work, as in the case of the anamorphic portrait of Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
by William Scrots
William Scrots
William Scrots was a painter of the Tudor court and an exponent of the Mannerist style of painting in the Netherlands. He is first heard of when appointed a court painter to Mary of Habsburg, Regent of the Netherlands, in 1537...
, Patrick Branwell Brontë
Branwell Brontë
Patrick Branwell Brontë was a painter and poet, the only son of the Brontë family, and the brother of the writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne.-Youth:...
's painting of his sisters Charlotte
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
, Emily
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
and Anne
Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë was a British novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family.The daughter of a poor Irish clergyman in the Church of England, Anne Brontë lived most of her life with her family at the parish of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors. For a couple of years she went to a...
, or a sculpture of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
and Prince Albert in medieval costume. Portraits of living figures were allowed from 1969. In addition to its permanent galleries of historical portraits, the National Portrait Gallery exhibits a rapidly changing collection of contemporary work, stages exhibitions of portrait art by individual artists and hosts the annual BP Portrait Prize
BP Portrait Prize
The BP Portrait Award is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award....
competition.
History and buildings
The three people largely responsible for the founding of the National Portrait Gallery are commemorated with busts over the main entrance. At centre is Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, with his supporters on either side, Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron MacaulayThomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
(to Stanhope's left) and Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
(to Stanhope's right). It was Stanhope who, in 1846 as a Member of Parliament (MP), first proposed the idea of a National Portrait Gallery. It was not until his third attempt, in 1856, this time from the House of Lords, that the proposal was accepted. With Queen Victoria's approval, the House of Commons set aside a sum of £2000 to establish the gallery. As well as Stanhope and Macaulay, the founder Trustees included Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Ellesmere. It was the latter who donated the Chandos portrait
Chandos portrait
The "Chandos" portrait is one of the most famous of the portraits that may depict William Shakespeare . Believed to have been painted from life between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the First Folio in 1623. It is named after James...
to the nation as the gallery's first portrait. Carlyle became a trustee after the death of Ellesmere in 1857.
For the first 40 years, the gallery was housed in various locations in London. The first 13 years were spent at 29 Great George Street, Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
. There, the collection increased in size from 57 to 208 items, and the number of visitors from 5,300 to 34,500. In 1869, the collection moved to Exhibition Road
Exhibition Road
Exhibition Road is a street in South Kensington, London, forming a semi-border between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster...
and buildings managed by the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
. Following a fire in those buildings, the collection was moved in 1885, this time to the Bethnal Green Museum. This location was ultimately unsuitable due to its distance from the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
, condensation and lack of waterproofing. Following calls for a new location to be found, the government accepted an offer of funds from the philanthropist William Henry Alexander. Alexander donated £60,000 followed by another £20,000, and also chose the architect, Ewan Christian
Ewan Christian
Ewan Christian was a British architect. He is most notable for the restoration of Carlisle Cathedral, the alterations to Christ Church, Spitalfields in 1866, and the extension to the National Gallery that created the National Portrait Gallery. He was architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners...
. The government provided the new site, St Martin's Place, adjacent to the National Gallery
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
, and £16,000. The buildings, faced in Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
, were constructed by Shillitoe & Son. Both the architect, Ewan Christian, and the gallery's first director, George Scharf
George Scharf
Sir George Scharf KCB was an English art critic, illustrator, and director of the National Portrait Gallery.-Early years:...
, died shortly before the new building was completed. The gallery opened at its new location on 4 April 1896.
The site has since been expanded twice. The first extension, in 1933, was funded by Lord Duveen
Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen of Millbank
Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen , known as Sir Joseph Duveen, Bt, between 1927 and 1933, was a British art dealer, considered one of the most influential art dealers of all time.-Life and career:...
, and resulted in the wing by architect Sir Richard Allison
Richard Allison (architect)
Sir Richard John Allison was a Scottish architect. From 1889 he was associated with the government Office of Works in London, and from 1914 was its Chief Architect.-Selected works:* The Science Museum, London...
that runs along Orange Street.
The second extension was funded by Sir Christopher Ondaatje
Christopher Ondaatje
Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE is a Sri Lankan-Canadian businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and Olympian. He lives in the United Kingdom.-Overview:...
and a £12m Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
grant, and was designed by London based architects Edward Jones
Edward Jones (architect)
Prof. Edward Jones, CBE RIBA is an English architect, born in St Albans in October 1939. He is married to Canadian architect Margot Griffin.-Career:...
and Jeremy Dixon. The Ondaatje Wing opened in 2000 and occupies a narrow space of land between the two 19th-century buildings of the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, and is notable for its immense, two-storey escalator that takes visitors to the earliest part of the collection, the Tudor
Tudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
portraits.
In January 2008, the Gallery received its largest single donation to date, a £5m gift from Aston Villa Chairman and U.S. billionaire Randy Lerner
Randy Lerner
Randolph D. Lerner is an American entrepreneur and sports team owner.Lerner has been the owner of the American football team, the Cleveland Browns, of the National Football League since October 2002, and the Chairman of Aston Villa Football Club of the English Premier League since 2006...
.
Exterior busts
In addition to the busts of the three founders of the gallery over the entrance, the exterior of two of the original 1896 buildings are decorated with stone block busts of eminent portrait artists, biographical writers and historians. These busts, sculpted by Frederick R. Thomas, depict James GrangerJames Granger
James Granger was an English clergyman, biographer, and print collector. He is now known as the author of the Biographical History of England from Egbert the Great to the Revolution .-Life:...
, William Faithorne
William Faithorne
William Faithorne , often "the Elder", , English painter and engraver, was born in London and was apprenticed to William Peake....
, Edmund Lodge
Edmund Lodge
Sir Edmund Lodge, KH , herald, was a long-serving English officer of arms, a writer on heraldic subjects, and a painstaking supplier of short, accurate biographies.-Life and career:...
, Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
, The Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...
, Horace Walpole, Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...
, Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Sir Peter Lely, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Louis François Roubiliac, William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Sir Francis Chantrey.
Finances and staff
The National Portrait Gallery's total income in 2007-2008 amounted to £16,610,000, the majority of which came from government grant-in-aidGrant-in-aid
A grant-in-aid is money coming from central government for a specific project. This kind of funding is usually used when the government and parliament have decided that the recipient should be publicly funded but operate with reasonable independence from the state.In the United Kingdom, most bodies...
(£7,038,000) and donations (£4,117,000). As of 31 March 2008, it's net assets
Net assets
Net assets, sometimes referred to as net worth, is the shareholders' equity = assets minus liabilities. The term net assets is commonly used with charities or not for profit entities -- a measurement of their ability to reinvest profits toward their mission....
amounted to £69,251,000. In 2008, the NPG had 218 full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
employees. It is an exempt charity
Exempt charity
An exempt charity is an institution established in England and Wales for charitable purposes which is exempt from registration with, and oversight by, the Charity Commission....
under English law.
Directors
- 1857-1895 George ScharfGeorge ScharfSir George Scharf KCB was an English art critic, illustrator, and director of the National Portrait Gallery.-Early years:...
- 1895-1909 Lionel CustLionel CustSir Lionel Henry Cust, KCVO FSA was an English art historian and museum director. He was director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1895 to 1909 and co-edited The Burlington Magazine from 1909 to 1919....
– previously at the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, and from 1901 to 1927 filled the role of Surveyor of the King's Pictures. - 1909-1916 Charles John HolmesCharles HolmesSir Charles John Holmes, KCVO was a British painter, art critic and museum director. His writing on art combined theory with practice and he was an expert on the painting techniques of the Old Masters, from whose example he had learned to draw and paint.Holmes was the son of a clergyman, Charles...
– Later director of the National GalleryNational Gallery, LondonThe National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media... - 1917-1927 James Milner
- 1927-1951 Henry Hake
- 1951-1964 Charles Kingsley Adams
- 1964-1967 David Piper – Later director of the Fitzwilliam MuseumFitzwilliam MuseumThe Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
and fellow of Christ's College, CambridgeChrist's College, CambridgeChrist's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
(1967–1973), and first director of the Ashmolean MuseumAshmolean MuseumThe Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
(1973–1985) - 1967-1973 Roy StrongRoy StrongSir Roy Colin Strong FRSL is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has been director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London...
- 1974-1994 John HayesJohn Hayes (art historian)John Trevor Hayes CBE FRSA was a British art historian and museum director. He was an authority on the paintings of Thomas Gainsborough.-Life and career:...
- 1994-2002 Charles Saumarez SmithCharles Saumarez SmithCharles Robert Saumarez Smith CBE is a British art historian. He was Director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1994 to 2002. From 2002 to 2007 he was director of the National Gallery and is currently Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts...
- 2002-present Sandy NairneSandy NairneAlexander Robert "Sandy" Nairne CBE is a British museum director and writer. Since 2002, he has been the director of the National Portrait Gallery.-Life and career:...
Legal threat against Wikipedia volunteer
On 14 July 2009, the National Portrait Gallery sent a demand letter alleging breach of copyright against an editor-user of WikipediaWikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
, who downloaded thousands of high-resolution reproductions of public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
paintings from the NPG website, and placed them on Wikipedia's sister media repository site, Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is an online repository of free-use images, sound and other media files. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation....
.The user "found a way to get around their software and download hi-resolution images without permission."
1909 murder-suicide
In newly released papers belonging to Sir George Scharf, the gallery's first director, the details of a 1909 murder-suicide in the public gallery have been revealed. A man, having shot his wife, turned the gun on himself shortly after they had been witnessed viewing portraits together.Further reading
- Hulme, Graham, The National Portrait Gallery: An Architectural History, National Portrait Gallery Publications, 2000, ISBN 1855142937