What’s On March - May 2017

The National Portrait Gallery is home to the largest collection of portraits in the world and celebrates the lives and achievements of those who have influenced British history, culture and identity.

National Portrait Gallery St Martin’s Place, London WC2H 0HE

020 7306 0055 Recorded information 020 7312 2463

Entry to the Gallery is free An entry fee is charged for some exhibitions. Nearest Tube: Leicester Square or Charing Cross Nearest Mainline Train: Charing Cross Buses to Trafalgar Square Opening Hours Daily 10.00 – 18.00 Thursdays and Fridays until 21.00 Exiting commences 10 minutes before the closing time. Ticket Desk closes, and last admission to ticketed exhibitions, one hour before the Gallery closes. Due to staff training on Monday mornings, galleries on Floor 1 and all Shops open at 11.00.

Group Visits For organised group visits, including schools, colleges and adult groups visit npg.org.uk/learning or call 020 7312 2483.

Access Step-free access is via the Shop entrance on St Martin’s Place and the Orange Street ramp entrance. Accompany your visit with our free access resources including the BSL Gallery App, BSL audio guide, audio picture description and large print guides available from the Ticket Desk. Free Audio Guides are available for all disabled visitors. A large print version of the What’s On is available to download at npg.org.uk/access For all access enquiries and for specific access requirements visit npg.org.uk/access or call 020 7321 6600. Text Direct 18001.

Explore Free WiFi is available throughout the Gallery.

Search the Collection and create your own tours using the interactive Portrait Explorer touch-screens.

Explore the Gallery with our interactive Audio Visual Guide (£3), Family Audio Visual Guide (charges apply) and our new and exclusive Choral Audio Guide (£3).

The Gallery App (£1.19 available from iTunes) includes video introductions and floorplans.

Pick up a Map to help plan your visit and support the Gallery with a donation of £1. This autumn we are launching our exclusive Choral Audio Guide, recorded exclusively by The Portrait Choir. £3 Heinz Archive and Library The primary centre for the study of British Portraiture. Open Tuesday to Friday, 10.00 – 17.00 by appointment only: [email protected] The curatorial team provides research support on Wednesday afternoons 14.00 – 17.00, no appointment necessary. Valuations are not given.

Keep in touch Register online for the Gallery’s free enewsletter and follow us on social media: npg.org.uk Facebook: /nationalportraitgallery Twitter: @npglondon Instagram: @nationalportraitgallery Our Visitor Services team are here to help and in return we ask that our visitors are courteous towards all Gallery staff. Welcome from the Director

It is with great pleasure that I introduce the Gallery’s innovative season of exhibitions, displays and events for spring 2017.

We’re looking forward to Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: Behind the mask another mask (from 9 March), which pairs two pioneering artists, born 70 years apart yet both exploring similar themes of gender, identity and masquerade. Opening soon after, Howard Hodgkin: Absent Friends (from 23 March) will be the first exhibition of portraits by one of Britain’s leading artists. Expect rich colour, sensuous brushstrokes and a challenging take on traditional forms of representation.

If you are visiting the Gallery in the coming months, I invite you to pick up a free copy of my Director’s Trail and explore some of my favourite portraits in the Collection. I hope you enjoy discovering the stories of these individuals with me.

Dr Nicholas Cullinan Director, National Portrait Gallery, London Exhibitions

Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: Behind the mask, another mask 9 March –29 May 2017 Wolfson Gallery

Tickets Including donation: £12 (Concessions: £10.50)

Joint ticket* Including donation £20 (Concession £17.50) * Between 23 March – 29 May see both Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun and Howard Hodgkin by booking our exclusive online only joint ticket. Visit website for further details.

Book now at npg.org.uk/wearingcahun Call 020 7321 6600 Or visit the Gallery in person Free for members #WearingCahun Publication A fully illustrated exhibition catalogue by Sarah Howgate with an essay by Dawn Ades. £24.95, hardback (£19.95 Gallery exclusive)

Supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation Exhibition organised in collaboration with Gillian Wearing Spring Season 2017 sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

This exhibition brings together for the first time the work of French Surrealist artist Claude Cahun and British contemporary artist Gillian Wearing. Although they were born almost seventy years apart and came from different backgrounds, remarkable parallels can be drawn between the two artists. Both of them share a fascination with the self-portrait and use the self-image, through the medium of photography, to explore themes around identity and gender, which is often played out through masquerade and performance. Howard Hodgkin: Absent Friends 23 March –18 June 2017 Porter Gallery

Tickets Including donation: £12 (Concessions: £10.50) Members free

Joint ticket* Including donation £20 (Concession £17.50) * Between 23 March – 29 May see both Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun and Howard Hodgkin by booking our exclusive online only joint ticket. Visit website for further details.

Book now at npg.org.uk/hodgkin Call 020 7321 6600 Or visit the Gallery in person #HowardHodgkin Publication A fully illustrated exhibition book written by curator Paul Moorhouse. £29.95, hardback.

Supported by Julia and Hans Rausing Spring Season 2017 sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

This is the first exhibition of portraits by Howard Hodgkin (b.1932), one of Britain’s leading artists. Hodgkin’s paintings are characterised by rich colour, complex illusionistic space and sensuous brushwork. By emphasising these pictorial elements, his work frequently appears entirely abstract. However, over the course of 65 years, a principal concern of Hodgkin’s art has been to evoke a human presence. The role of memory, the expression of emotion, and the exploration of relationships between people and places are all preoccupations. The exhibition explores Hodgkin’s development of a personal visual language of portraiture, which challenges traditional forms of representation. BP Portrait Award 2017 22 June – 24 September 2017 Wolfson Gallery

Admission Free npg.org.uk/bp #BPPortrait

Publication Featuring all works in the exhibition alongside an essay by bestselling novelist Stella Duffy. £9.99, paperback. Supported by BP

The BP Portrait Award is the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world, and the free exhibition continues to be an unmissable highlight of the annual art calendar.

From informal studies and personal studies of friends and family to revealing images of famous faces, the exhibition always features a variety of styles and approaches to the contemporary painted portrait. Now in its thirty-eight year at the National Portrait Gallery, and twenty-eighth year of sponsorship by BP, the first prize of £30,000 makes the Award the most important international portrait painting competition of its kind and has launched the careers of many renowned artists. The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt 13 July – 22 October 2017 Porter Gallery

Tickets on sale from 16 February Including donation: £10 (Concessions £8.50) Members free #TheEncounter

Publication The fully illustrated catalogue by curators Tarnya Cooper and Charlotte Bolland. £24.95, paperback.

The creative encounter between individual artists and sitters is explored in this major exhibition featuring portrait drawings by some of the outstanding masters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Drawn from the holdings of British collections, exquisite observational drawings by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Holbein, Rubens and Rembrandt will be on display in a celebration of portrait drawing from life, during a time of extraordinary artistic ingenuity. Cézanne Portraits 26 October 2017 – 11 February 2018 Wolfson Gallery

Tickets Including donation: £20 (Concessions £18.50) Book now at npg.org.uk/cezanne Call 020 7321 6600 Or visit the Gallery in person #CézannePortraits

Publication Fully illustrated exhibition catalogue with introductory essay by curator John Elderfield. £35, hardback. This major new exhibition brings together, for the first time, over 50 portraits by Paul Cézanne, one of the most influential artists of the nineteenth century.

Cézanne painted almost 200 portraits during his career, including 26 of himself and 29 of his wife, Hortense Fiquet. The exhibition explores the special pictorial and thematic characteristics of Cézanne’s portraiture including his creation of complementary pairs and multiple versions of the same subject. The chronological development of Cézanne’s portraiture is considered, with an examination of the changes that occurred with respect to his style and method, and his understanding of resemblance and identity.

In collaboration with Musée d’Orsay, Paris and National Gallery of Art, Washington DC Gallery Displays

The Gallery’s changing programme of free displays highlight a range of themes, sitters and artists, as well as significant anniversaries and acquisitions.

Speak its Name! Floor 1 Room 32 Until 6 August 2017 Marking the fiftieth anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales in 1967, this display features a selection of portraits from Speak its Name! – a new book of moving, amusing and inspirational quotations by and about LGBT people. The display includes photographs of Saffron Burrows, Tom Daley, Angela Eagle, Jackie Kay, Alexander McQueen, Ben Whishaw and Will Young, accompanied by quotations from the sitters discussing their own experience of ‘coming out’ – to friends, family, fans and media. Double Take: Akram Zaatari and the Arab Image Foundation Floor 1 Room 33 27 March – 3 September 2017 Studio Shehrazade was a popular photographic studio run by Hashem el Madani from 1953 in Saida, Lebanon. Residents of the city frequently visited to have their portraits taken in the privacy of Madani’s studio. In 1998 Madani’s archive was discovered by the Arab Image Foundation, an organisation co- founded by the contemporary Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari, with the aim of collecting and researching amateur and commercial photographic practices from the Middle East, North Africa and Arab diaspora.

As part of an ongoing project, Zaatari has begun to reorganise and recirculate Madani’s photographs. This display will present studio portraits taken by Madani in which two people of the same sex kiss or tenderly embrace. By returning to these historical documents, Zaatari explores the cultural and political histories contained within Madani’s portraits.

Supported by The Ampersand Foundation Life, Death and Memory Floor 2 Room 16 From 17 April 2017 Portraiture has a close relationship with the passing of time and mortality. Portraits usually reflect a particular moment in a person’s life. That person will change, get older and eventually die but the portrait endures. This display draws together historic and contemporary works from the Collection that engage with this complex, sometimes troubling, relationship.

There is a long tradition of portraits that explicitly anticipate death, including the seventeenth-century diarist John Evelyn shown clutching a skull. Artists have frequently explored their mortality in self-portraits. Such reminders of death were intended to indicate the sitters humility and piety.

Floor 2 Room 3 Until 16 July Framing the Face: Collars and Ruffs Room 16 Until 2 April Luc Tuymans: Glasses

Floor 1 From 28 February 2017 First World War Poets

Room 24 Until 31 July 2017 Reproducing Fame: Printmakers and the Victorian Stage

Room 25 Until 6 August 2017 At the Despatch Box: Gladstone in Action

Room 28 Until December 2017 Late Victorian and Edwardian Britain: Arts, Culture, People

Room 29 Until 29 October 2017 A Century of Photography 1840 – 1940

Ondaatje Wing Main Hall and Floor 1 Room 32 Until 21 May 2017 Antony Gormley – Object Room 32 Until 21 May 2017 Antony Gormley – Fall

Floor 0 Room 39 Until 24 September 2017 David Gwinnutt: Before We Were Men

National Programme

The Gallery works collaboratively with venues around the country to loan works as part of a varied programme of touring exhibitions and displays.

Modern Visionaries: Van Dyck and the Artists’ Eye Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle 28 January – 4 June 2017 Curated by the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, this exhibition will consider Sir Anthony van Dyck’s Self-portrait alongside works by twentieth-century visionary artists. Key works drawn from both the National Portrait Gallery and the Laing Art Gallery’s collection include portraits of Joseph Beuys, Mervyn Peake and Paule Vézelay. Artist Marcus Coates will create a new performance for the exhibition that builds on his role as a shaman and visionary to offer imaginative responses to the social and philosophical problems of contemporary urban living.

Paul Smith to J K Rowling: BP Portrait Award Commissions from the National Portrait Gallery University of Hull for the UK’s City of Culture 2017 29 March – 11 June 2017 This exhibition will showcase twenty two of the first prize winning portraits from the BP Portrait Award. As part of the Hull City of Culture celebrations for 2017, portraits of sitters including Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Helen Mirren and J K Rowling will come together in an exhibition which represents the diversity, creativity and vision of a group of people who have shaped Britain today.

Find out more npg.org.uk/beyondthegallery Events Calendar

Events are free unless otherwise stated. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis and are subject to availability.

Book ticketed events at npg.org.uk/events, call 020 7306 0055 or visit the Gallery in person.

We offer discounted ticket prices for Concessions and Gallery Supporters. Events are subject to change. Please check the website before visiting.

Access All events are wheelchair accessible.

BSL: Events interpreted with British Sign Language or led in BSL. Please check listings for details.

Visualising Portraits: Picture description for visually impaired visitors. March

Thu 2 13.15 Lunchtime Lecture Molecular Jigsaws: Piecing together our female structural biologists £3/£2

19.00 In Conversation Anthony Burgess at 100: Jonathan Meades £8/£7

Fri 3 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Gayna Pelham

18.30 Live Music Ignite: Wigmore Hall

Sun 5 13.00 – 16.00 Young People Sunday Session Interior Reflections

Thu 9 19.00 In Conversation Mirror Mirror: Women’s Self- portraits

Fri 10 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Robin-Lee Hall

18.30 Live Music Luca Luciano and Jose Henrique de Campos Sat 11 – Sun 12 11.00-17.00 Weekend Workshop: My Portrait and Myself £150/£125

Thu 16 13.15 Lunchtime Lecture First Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill £3/£2

19.00 In Conversation Gillian Wearing £8/£7

Fri 17 18.30 Late Shift Screening: Confessions to the Mirror £7/£6 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Marc Woodhead 18.30 Live Music Shirley Smart and Tommie Black-Roff

Sat 18 12.00 – 16.00 Pick Up A Pencil Make Your Mark

Sun 19 13.00 – 14.30 (for ages 3+) Drop-in Family Session 15.00 – 16.30 (for ages 7+) School of Noise Thu 23 19.00 In Conversation Before we were men: David Gwinnutt and guests £8/£7

Fri 24 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Grace Adam

18.30 Live Music Bella Tromba

Sat 25 11.00 – 17.00 One-day Workshop Another Mask: Making Poetry from Portraiture £75/£60

Mon 27 13.00-15.00 Drawing Room From every angle

Thu 30 14.00 Visualising Portraits Speak its Name! 18.30 Lecture Howard Hodgkin: Absent Friends £8/£7 19.30 BSL Gallery Tour A Century of Photography, 1840 – 1940 Fri 31 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Susan Wilson 18.30 Life Drawing After the Masters £9/£7 18.30 Live Music João Loureiro April Sun 2 11.00 – 16.00 Sunday Session Crafted Identities

Mon 3 – Fri 7 11.00 – 16.00 Holiday Activities Behind the Mask

Wed 5 11.00, 13.00 and 15.00 Holiday Activities Transform (15.00 session will be BSL interpreted) Thu 6 13.15 Lunchtime Lecture ‘Mad, bad and dangerous to know’ – Lord Byron and his women £3/£2 19.00 In Conversation Claude Cahun’s ‘self-portraits’ £8/£7

Fri 7 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Grace Adam 18.30 Live Music Charlotte Glasson

Sat 8 – Sun 9 11.00 - 17.00 Weekend Workshop Playing with the Camera £150/£125 Tue 11 – Thu 13 11.00 – 16.00 Three Day Workshop Masking Identities

Thu 13 17.00-17.30 Three Day Workshop Showcase Masking Identities

19.00 In Conversation Hodgkin and portraiture: painting what he sees and feels £8/£7

Fri 14 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Gayna Pelham

Thu 20 13.15 Lunchtime Lecture Claude Cahun – A Life Defiant £3/£2 19.00 In Conversation The Art of Photographing Hollywood Icons: Then and Now £8/£7

Fri 21 18.30 Late Shift Screening: Orlando £7/£6 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Andy Pankhurst 18.30 Live Music Matshidiso

Sat 22 – Sun 23 11.00 – 17.00 Weekend Workshop The Abstract Portrait £150/£125

Mon 24 13.00 – 15.00 The Drawing Room Focus on Fashion

Thu 27 14.00 Visualising Portraits Art, Invention & Thought: the Romantic

19.00 Late Shift Please see website for details

19.30 BSL Tour Akram Zaatari

Fri 28 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Marc Woodhead

18.30 Life Drawing Figure drawing for the Fearful £9/£7

18.30 Live Music Concert Theatre: The Tenant May Thu 4 13.15 Lunchtime Lecture The Invention of Angela Carter £3/£2

19.00 In Conversation Queer Perspectives

Fri 5 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Gayna Pelham

18.30 Live Music Louisa Petais and Christopher Bundhun

Sun 7 11.00 – 16.00 Young People Sunday Session Abstract Portraits

Thu 11 19.00 In Conversation Masked/Unmasked £8/£7

Fri 12 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Andy Pankhurst

18.30 Late Shift Screening: The Skin I Live In £7/£6

18.30 Live Music Musike in the Ayre

Sat 13 – Sun 14 11.00 – 17.00 Weekend Workshop Me as Mask £75/£60

Thu 18 13.15 Lunchtime Lecture The Lives of Tudor Women £3/£2

18.00 Gallery Tour Photo London: A Century of Photography

19.00 In conversation Photo London: Newsha Tavakolian £8/£7

Fri 19 18.00 Gallery Tour Photo London: Before we were Men

18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Grace Adam

18.30 Live Music Marielle Way

19.00 In Conversation Photo London: William Klein £8/£7

Sat 20 16.00 In Conversation Photo London: Gregory Crewdson £8/£7

Sun 21 13.30 – 14.30 (for ages 3+) Drop-in Family Session Portraits in Clay 15.00 – 16.30 (for ages 7+) Drop-in Family Session Portraits in Clay

Thu 25 14.00 Visualising Portraits Akram Zaatari

19.00 Performance A Search For Perfection – Alexander Pope £8/£7

19.30 BSL Tour Speak its Name!

Fri 26 18.30 Drop-in Drawing Led by artist Robin-Lee Hall

18.30 Life Drawing Pose/Counterpose £9/£7

18.30 Live Music Concordia Foundation

Mon 29 13.00 The Drawing Room Life, Death and Memory

Mon 29 – Fri 2 June 11.00 – 16.00 Holiday Activities Finding Friends

Wed 31 15.00 Gallery Tour London History Day Lunchtime Lectures

Thursdays at 13.15, £3/£2 Immerse yourself in British history and culture in our popular Lunchtime Lecture series. Doors open at 12.45.

2 March Molecular Jigsaws: Piecing together our female structural biologists To celebrate International Women’s Day, biophysicist Rivka Isaacson looks at the pioneering work of female structural biologists in the Gallery’s Collection including Rosalind Franklin, Dorothy Hodgkin, Dame Louise Johnson, Dame Kathleen Lonsdale and Olga Kennard.

16 March First Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill Acclaimed biographer Sonia Purnell sheds a completely new light on the compelling story of Clementine Churchill, a complex woman attempting to maintain her own identity while serving as the conscience and most influential adviser to one of the most important figures in British history. 6 April ‘Mad, bad and dangerous to know’ – Lord Byron and his women Author and journalist Alexander Larman discusses the life and loves of Lord Byron, the most notorious of all the Romantic poets, and one whose literary genius was equalled by his passionate affairs.

20 April Claude Cahun – A Life Defiant Louise Downie, Jersey Heritage’s Director of Curation and Experience, uses the Jersey Heritage Cahun collection to explore the artist’s life and art from her beginnings as a precocious teenager, through her years living in the vibrant artistic hub of Paris to her resistance and imprisonment during the German Occupation of Jersey.

4 May The Invention of Angela Carter Biographer Edmund Gordon looks at the life and work of Angela Carter, widely acknowledged as one of the most important and beguiling writers of the last century. He will examine how she invented herself – as a new kind of woman and a new kind of writer – and how she came to write such seductive works as The Bloody Chamber, Nights at the Circus and Wise Children.

18 May The Lives of Tudor Women Historian and author Elizabeth Norton explores the seven ages of the Tudor woman, from childhood to old age, painting a portrait of the lives of queens and serving maids, nuns and harlots, widows and chaperones. Weekend Workshops

Saturdays and Sundays 11.00 – 17.00 £150/£125 unless otherwise stated These intimate art weekends enable you to explore, develop and improve your creativity. Working alongside leading artists and photographers, take inspiration from the Gallery and look at portraiture in new, exciting ways.

11 – 12 March My Portrait and Myself £150/£125 Taking inspiration from Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun investigate themes of identity with painter Edward Sutcliffe (BP Travel Award Winner, 2014). Examine how themes of identity can be used in the creation of imaginative portraits and produce a painted self-portrait in acrylics. Suitable for all abilities, all materials provided.

25 March Another Mask: Making Poetry from Portraiture £75/£60 This one-day poetry workshop led by poet Sarah Hesketh uses Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun as a starting point for the creation of new poetry. Explore what it means to write poetry that is portraiture, the ethics of writing about and creatively representing others, and question what it means to write outside of your own gender, race and class.

8 – 9 April Playing with the Camera £150/£125 Photographer Kate Peters leads this two-day practical photographic workshop inspired by Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun. Working on location and in the studio, around themes of ‘the mask’ and ‘disguise’ explore creative approaches to photographic portraiture with an emphasis on analogue processes such as creating negatives from instant film.

22 – 23 April The Abstract Portrait £150/£125 Inspired by Howard Hodgkin, investigate and challenge traditional forms of portraiture with artist Marc Woodhead. After visiting the exhibition, you will make a study of one of Hodgkin’s compositions in pastel and then in paint. On day two, draw on your own memories of a person, the emotions they evoke and an idea of place to create your own responses.

13 and 14 May Me as Mask £75/£60 each day In this day-long workshop, you will create your own self portrait – a life mask inspired by Gillian Wearing’s work. Led by sculptor Martin Hanson, you will create a mould of your face using medical grade silicone (which can be kept and re-used) and then take a plaster cast. A visit to Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun is included. Late Shift

Catch up on culture after hours – enjoy art, music, talks and films every Thursday and Friday, 18.00 – 21.00. Talks 19.00

Thu 2 March Anthony Burgess at 100: Jonathan Meades in conversation £8/£7 Jonathan Meades celebrates the centenary of novelist Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange. Sharing his memories of Burgess’s extraordinary life and work, Jonathan will be in conversation with Andrew Biswell, author of the biography The Real Life Of Anthony Burgess.

Thu 9 March Mirror Mirror: Women’s Self-portraits In celebration of International Women’s Day, Marsha Meskimmon, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History and Theory at the University of Loughborough and artist and author Liz Rideal discuss female selfportraiture from the Seventeenth to the Twenty-First Century. Thu 16 March In Conversation: Gillian Wearing £8/£7 Artist Gillian Wearing talks to the Gallery’s Contemporary Curator Sarah Howgate about the new exhibition which pairs her with French Surrealist Claude Cahun and the remarkable parallels that exist in their work.

Fri 17 March 18.30 Screening: Confessions to the Mirror £7/£6 Artist Sadie Lee introduces Sarah Pucill’s re-imagination of the life and work of the surrealist Claude Cahun based on her personal memoir, from childhood to imprisonment by the Nazis. Followed by Q&A with Sarah Pucill. (16mm, colour, 68min, Dir Sarah Pucill, 2016.)

Fri 23 March Before We Were Men: David Gwinnut and guests £8/£7 Photographer David Gwinnutt talks about his display which chronicles the 1980s London art and club scene with Dr Ian Massey, biographer of artist Patrick Proctor, filmmaker John Maybury and journalist Paul Gorman. Enjoy special super 8 film screenings by John Maybury and a DJ set by Jeffrey Hinton in the Main Hall from 18.00 – 21.50.

Thu 30 March Howard Hodgkin: Absent Friends £8/£7 Paul Moorhouse, the curator of the exhibition, explores the development of Hodgkin’s portraiture, and considers the role of memory and emotion in the artist’s representation of people.

Thu 6 April Claude Cahun’s ‘self-portraits’ £8/£7 Dawn Ades, Professor Emeritus of Art History at the University of Essex, discusses the complex nature of Claude Cahun’s ‘self- portraits’ with Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery.

Thu 13 April Hodgkin and portraiture: painting what he sees and feels £8/£7 Paul Levy, writer, journalist, broadcaster and the subject of two portraits by Howard Hodgkin, is joined by Dame Margaret Drabble to discuss the artist’s approach to portraiture.

Thu 20 April The Art of Photographing Hollywood Icons: Then and Now £8/£7 Simon Crocker, Chair of the John Kobal Foundation, discusses the art of photographing movie stars in both the days of the Hollywood Studio System from the mid 1920s through to the early 1960s, as well as in today’s digital world with Jason Bell.

Fri 21 April 18.30 Screening : Orlando £7/£6 Writing in her diary in 1928, Virginia Woolf described her experimental novel as ‘a biography beginning in the year 1500 and continuing to the present day... only with a change about from one sex to the other.’ Join artist Sadie Lee for this highspirited adaptation of the gender and century-swapping odyssey. (Dir Sally Potter, 1992, 93 minutes, cert PG) Thu 27 April Please see website for details.

Thu 4 May Queer Perspectives Gain a Queer Perspective on our Collection with resident artist Sadie Lee and her special guest as they discuss portraits which have a personal resonance.

Thu 11 May Masked/Unmasked £8/£7 ‘Man is least himself when he talks in his own person,’ wrote Oscar Wilde. ‘Give him a mask and he will tell the truth.’ Diran Adebayo, John Burnside, Jay Griffiths and John Wright discuss how masks can both hide and reveal. In Partnership with the Royal Society of Literature.

Fri 12 May 18.30 Screening: The Skin I Live In £7/£6 Sadie Lee introduces this dark, surreal and visually stunning film, that presents an obsessive (and literally) surgical examination exploring the inherent and constructed elements of human identity. (Dir Pedro Almodóvar, 2011, 120 mins, cert 15.)

Thu 18 May 18.00 Gallery Tour Photo London: A Century of Photography Phillip Prodger, Head of Photographs, leads a tour of A Century of Photography, 1840 – 1940, an installation dedicated to the Gallery’s extraordinary Photographs Collection.

Thu 18 May Photo London: Newsha Tavakolian £8/£7 Photographer Newsha Tavakolian (born 1981, Tehran) talks about her life and work with curator, writer and critic Vali Mahlouji. In partnership with Photo London.

Fri 19 May 18.00 Gallery Tour Photo London: Before We Were Men Photographer David Gwinnutt leads a tour of his work which chronicles the 1980s London art and club scene. Fri 19 May Photo London: William Klein £8/£7 The great photographer and filmmaker William Klein talks to writer, curator and artist David Capanay. In partnership with Photo London.

Thu 25 May A Search For Perfection – Alexander Pope £8/£7 Award winning blind storyteller Giles Abbott weaves the complexities of celebrated poet and savage satirist Alexander Pope’s life into a story of his art, ambitions and conflicts.

Live DJ

Relax with a drink at the Late Shift bar and enjoy a live set by a guest DJ or our resident DJ Eddie Otchere. Every Thursday, 18.00 – 21.00.

Drop-in Drawing

Join our popular and free artist-led drop-in drawing sessions and sketch in the Gallery every Friday, 18.30 – 20.30. Life Drawing

Take part in our group life drawing sessions on the last Friday of every month, 18.30 – 20.30 in the Ondaatje Wing Theatre. £9/£7

Fri 31 March After the Masters A dynamic evening of life drawing with artist Andy Pankhurst. Take inspiration from models and muses from a selected number of great works within the Gallery’s Collection.

Fri 28 April Figure drawing for the fearful Join artist Robin-Lee Hall for a Life drawing session that takes the fear out of drawing the figure. Robin-Lee will guide you through a series of simple exercises to help develop your creativity and confidence.

Fri 26 May Pose/Counterpose Led by artist Marc Woodhead , this session explores the influence of Classicism on pose and posture on British portraiture, and the modernist anti-classical movement in the 20th century.

Sat 20 May 16.00 Photo London: Gregory Crewdson £8/£7 Acclaimed photographer Gregory Crewdson talks to Phillip Prodger, the Gallery’s Head of Photographs. In Partnership with Photo London.

Wed 31 May 15.00 ‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life’ – Samuel Johnson Free Join us as we celebrate the first ever London History Day, organised by Historic England. Take part in curator-led Gallery talks as we highlight portraits of great Londoners. London History day is held on the day Big Ben first started keeping time. We’re joining museums and galleries across London to mark the people and places that have contributed to the city’s unique identity. For more information visit HistoricEngland.org.uk Live Music

Enjoy an eclectic range of free live music performances. Fridays 18.30

Fri 3 March Ignite: Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall’s Ignite ensemble perform pieces created by young people as well as their own compositions.

Fri 10 March Luca Luciano and Jose Henrique de Campos Music for clarinet and guitar by Villa-Lobos, Berio, De Falla and Poulenc.

Fri 17 March Shirley Smart and Tommie Black-Roff The cello and accordion duo improvise a journey through classical music, jazz and world music from North Africa, Middle East, Balkans and South America. Fri 24 March Bella Tromba The award winning brass group presents a lively and varied program of Chamber music.

Fri 31 March João Loureiro Guitarist Joao Loureiro plays a programme of original music inspired by his family and childhood.

Fri 7 April Charlotte Glasson The trio returns to play their own blend of jazz, New Orleans, gypsy and Latin music, creating a kaleidoscope of musical colour to uplift and entertain.

Fri 21 April Matshidiso The classically trained pianist, composer, arranger and singersongwriter performs her own music inspired by folk, hip- hop and singer-songwriters of the 70s. Fri 28 April Concert Theatre: The Tenant A reimagining of Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall through live classical music (piano) and performance.

Fri 5 May Louisa Petais and Christopher Bundhun The soprano and guitarist explore the dynamic song traditions of Spain, Greece and England from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.

Fri 12 May Musike in the Ayre Emily Murphy and Din Ghani perform lute songs marking weddings and funerals of the Stuart era.

Fri 19 May Marielle Way The flautist presents a recital of Baroque works for solo flute. Fri 26 May Concordia Foundation Concordia Foundation’s International Ensemble presents Masquerade – a musical journey behind the mask. Access

The Gallery is fully accessible and welcomes everyone to take part in the rich programme of free events for all ages.

The Access programme is supported by the Lord Leonard and Lady Estelle Wolfson Foundation

Visualising Portraits

Free picture description talks for blind and visually impaired visitors. The last Thursday of every month at 14.00

Thu 30 March Speak its Name! Find out more about this display which celebrates the advances in gay rights in Britain over the past half century and the experiences of people ‘coming out’.

Thu 27 April Art, Invention & Thought: the Romantic Explore this collection of key Romantic poets and figures from the Regency period.

Thu 25 May Akram Zaatari Discover Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari’s selection from photographer Hashem el Madani’s archive from 1950s Lebanon.

BSL Gallery Tours

Free events interpreted with British Sign Language (BSL) or led in BSL. The last Thursday of every month. 19.30.

Thu 30 March A Century of Photography Join Chisato Minamimura for a tour of a display celebrating photography from 1840 – 1940. Led in BSL with interpretation into English.

Thu 27 April Akram Zaatari Dafydd Jones looks at the display which highlights the photography studio as a space for intimate gestures. Led in BSL.

Thu 25 May Speak its Name! John Wilson leads a tour of a display which features portraits accompanied by quotations from the sitters discussing their own experience of ‘coming out’. Led in BSL.

The Drawing Room

Free artist-led drawing classes for disabled visitors. The last Monday of every month 13.00 – 15.00.

Mon 27 March Drawing from every angle Explore some of the sculptures in the Collection by drawing all angles of the busts.

Mon 24 April Focus on Fashion Draw sitters in all their ornate finery including wigs and hats. Mon 29 May Life, Death and Memory Explore this display that reflects on life and death and focus on memento mori emblems. Families

Our spring season of free events and activities includes an experimental sound workshop with School of Noise, as well as a chance to dance with New Adventures and Re:Bourne dance company. Drop-in Sessions

13.00 – 14.30 for ages 3+ 15.00 – 16.30 for ages 7+ No ticket required. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Sun 19 March School of Noise The School of Noise welcome you to explore relationships between sound and sight. Families are invited to come along and compose pieces of experimental music inspired by portraits in the Gallery using a variety of sound-making and sculpting machines.

Sunday 21 May Portraits in Clay Drop-in to our studio to mould, roll , cut and build with clay using a variety of techniques and processes. During the session families will have the opportunity to create a small clay head inspired by portraits in the Collection.

Holiday Activities

11.00 – 16.00 Free ticket required for some workshops, available one hour before.

Mon 3 – Fri 7 April Behind the Mask Inspired by Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun and the Gallery’s Collection, join us for a week of Easter activities exploring identity. During the week there will be ticketed and drop-in activities.

Wed 5 April 11.00 repeated at 13.00 and 15.00 Transform Join dancers from New Adventures & Re:Bourne for creative dance, games and movement sessions exploring themes of gender, identity, masquerade and performance. A fun physical workshop for all the family. Please note the 15.00 will be BSL interpreted.

Mon 29 May – Fri 2 June Finding Friends A week of activities exploring the paintings of Howard Hodgkin and portraits in the Collection. Activities will range from painting to printmaking.

Family Activity Base

11.00 – 16.00 Every weekend and weekdays during the school holidays. Find out more about what’s on in the Gallery, and pick up resources and drawing materials to explore the Collection, displays and exhibitions. Young People (ages 14 – 21)

Showcase your talent, work with artists, develop skills, be creative and meet other young people interested in art at our FREE events for 14 – 21 year-olds.

Sunday Sessions

Sun 5 March 13.00 – 16.00 Interior Reflections Be inspired by David Gwinnutt’s display, Before We Were Men, to produce studio portraits using black and white photography. Work with the feature artist David Gwinnutt and photographer Marysa Dowling.

Sun 2 April 11.00 – 16.00 Crafted Identities Use words and up-cycled materials to express your identity through art. Create work inspired by the First World War Poets display with Sarah Corbett from the Craftivist Collective and artist Shelly Wain. Sun 7 May 11.00 – 16.00 Abstract Portraits Work with artists Nick Botting and Robin Lee Hall to investigate themes of abstraction and memory. Then develop expressive brushwork techniques in this painting workshop inspired by Howard Hodgkin.

Pick up a Pencil

An afternoon of free social drop-in drawing hosted by the Gallery’s Youth Forum. Be inspired by the Gallery’s Collection and experiment with drawing materials and techniques in this Gallery-based artist-led session. All you have to do is pick up a pencil and draw. No need to book – just drop-in between 12.00 – 16.00

Sat 18 Mar 12.00 – 16.00 Make Your Mark Experiment with mark-making and produce portraits using a wide range of materials. Participate in quick drawing activities inspired by the Gallery’s Collection with special guest artists Ed Sutcliffe and Jasleen Kaur. Three Day Workshop

11.00 – 16.00 Daily Tue 11 – Thu 13 April Masking Identities Work with special guest Liz Aggiss, cross -discipline performer, film maker, director and choreographer and photographer Anthony Luvera on the theme of gender and identity in this performance and photography workshop. Inspired by Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun.

Thu 13 April 17.00 – 17.30 Three Day Workshop Showcase Join us for a showcase of works produced by the participants of the Young People’s Three Day Workshop: Masking Identities.

@NPG Youth #PickUpAPencil Shop

From our Collection to yours Discover the full range of gifts, books and products inspired by our exhibition and the Collection, available exclusively from Gallery Shops and online.

Every purchase supports the National Portrait Gallery npg.org.uk/shop

Portrait Restaurant

Start your day in an unforgettable way with a combination of stunning rooftop views and delicious breakfasts made using the finest British ingredients. Served daily.

See npg.org.uk for opening times and booking details or call 020 7312 2490 for restaurant reservations. Become a Member Today

Be one of our most familiar faces and enjoy a year of free and unlimited entry to all ticketed exhibitions including:

– Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: Behind the mask, another mask – Howard Hodgkin: Absent Friends – The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt – Cézanne Portraits

As well as: – Members’ Only Private Views and Afternoon Previews of exhibitions – Discounts in our Gallery Shops, Portrait Restaurant and Portrait Café – Priority booking and concessionary rates for all ticketed events

Join today at npg.org.uk/members call the team on 020 7321 6283, or visit the Information Desk