National Portrait Gallery

National Portrait Gallery stands in London as a museum devoted to portraits and the art of portraiture. Its galleries bring together paintings, photographs, glass plate negatives, and objects linked to photographic practice. You can move across subjects and periods while seeing how artists represented people who shaped society.

George Hurrell’s photographs capture Hollywood stars from the 1930s and early 1940s. Mathew Brady’s Civil War era negatives appear through modern prints showing Abraham Lincoln, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ulysses Grant, and Emma, Queen of Hawai‘i. Nearby, an original glass plate negative and one wooden storage box reveal the materials behind nineteenth-century photography. Isaac Julien’s multi-screen installation, Lessons of the Hour—Frederick Douglass, uses period reenactments to portray the activist, writer, orator, and philosopher.

A life-size painting of Abraham Lincoln by W. F. K. Travers belongs to the permanent collection. Public programmes include guided tours and special events focused on the stories behind the portraits. The gallery also supports museum training through internships in communications, curatorial research, publications, and collections management. One small object leaves a lasting impression: Brady’s wooden box, preserved alongside images of American history.