The National Portrait Gallery: Reframed

The National Portrait Gallery has reopened with a flourish after the biggest refit in its history. It now boasts more space, better accessibility (with an escalator taking you to the top floor), lots of new works, old favourites shown afresh and an elegant café – all just a stone’s throw from Trafalgar Square.

Maggi Hambling, Dorothy Hodgkin, 1910-94. Oil on canvas, 1985.

Most significant, the entire permanent collection of pictures, photographs, sculpture and other media has been rehung and reframed – in the sense that the notes for each image have been rewritten to reflect a contemporary view of world history. Now, the caption to a portrait of the explorer James Cook, who discovered Australia, details how indigenous populations were often maltreated at the hands of the British Empire. It’s fascinating to see how our collective thinking about the past has been shifting.

 The Tudor portraits, like that of Elizabeth I painted on wood, are wonderfully colourful and fresh, but also a reminder of how dangerous life was at that time, when looking at pictures of Thomas Cromwell (of Wolf Hall fame), Robert Dudley and Anne Boleyn. So many of them ended up in the Tower. There’s a famous portrait of Shakespeare, looking roguish in close-up with his single silver earring and mischievous eyes.

 The Gainsboroughs, which reflect the British love of landscaping alongside their graceful subjects, are appreciated afresh. Glorious brushstrokes and a light touch give these portraits sweeping beauty plus an intimacy – even in their finery, these look like real people.

 And finally, there are the 20th- and 21st-century artists and photographers who have become household names – Cecil Beaton, Maggie Hambling (her portrait of scientist Dorothy Hodgkin, above), David Hockney, Tracey Emin, Paul McCartney – and their sometimes even more famous subjects, plus a range of wonderful upcoming artists such as Lubaina Himid and Michael Armitage. It’s like walking into a party with all your old friends and lots of lovely, glamorous new ones.