I got to the National Portrait Gallery late yesterday, which meant I didn’t have as much time as I’d have liked to look around… There is a lot to see, and if you want to fit in a visit to the shop and the café on top of that, you’re going to need a while.
I spent most of the afternoon trying to look like I was texting whilst I surrepticiously took photos on my phone. VERY naughty. But there were some that I just needed to have… Like the Warhol prints of HRH Queen Liz II, or the Julian Opie panels of Blur, or Marc Quinn’s “Self”: A frozen sculpture of his head made in his own blood. Nice.
From the contemporary portraits on the ground floor, I went up to the 20th Century portraits (including the Warhols, and a great painting of Paul McCartney, amongst others). However, the big treat for me was on the second floor… The Tudor rooms house not one, not two, but three portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, painted at various times in her life. Three original paintings of the greatest ruler this country has ever seen (don’t question me on this. Not only is it objective fact, she’s also ginger).
That wasn’t all. In fact, there were so many incredible paintings, sketches, photographs and prints in the NPG, by the time I had been in there for a couple of hours, my brain was totally saturated. I was walking past the most incredible portraits of the most incredible people in British history and not taking anything in… Time for a coffee.
Except – no. Remember how I got there late? The coffee shop was closing. No coffee. I hot-footed it up to the Portrait Restaurant on the top floor… Oh well, it’ll HAVE to be a cocktail then… Except – no. The Portrait Restaurant is only open in the evening on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Damn. No cocktail.
If I’d had my coffee/cocktail fix, I probably would’ve been good to go for at least another hour or so, and I wouldn’t have been short of things to look at. And that’s just in the free galleries. At the moment there are ticketed exhibitions of both Hoppé and Ida Kar (£12 for both together), and if you don’t fancy forking out, and you’re between 14-21, they have free activities on all year round (see the website for more details).
Cheapskate rating:
8/10
A feast for the eyes, from the historical to the hysterical.
Additional notes:
The view from the Portrait Restaurant (when open) is spectacular.
Remember to pick up a postcard or 10 from the gift shop. Affordable portraiture.
Got Google maps?: WC2H 0HE
Nearest tube: Leicester Square (2 mins), Charing Cross (5 mins) or Embankment (8 mins)
Buses: 24, 29, 176 (plus loads more, check TFL for more details)
Overground: Charing Cross (5 mins)
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