The esteemed National Portrait Gallery has just announced its 2027 programme.
Peter Blake: Pop Art Life runs from 11 February to 23 May 2027.
Mary Cassatt: Radical Impressionist marks the artist’s first UK retrospective.
From Sir Peter Blake and Mary Cassatt to Frank Auerbach, the Trafalgar Square gallery has revealed a major year of exhibitions.
London’s National Portrait Gallery is lining up a blockbuster year of art. The Trafalgar Square institution has revealed its 2027 exhibition programme, spanning Pop Art, Impressionism, literature, contemporary painting and photography. Among the highlights are major exhibitions dedicated to Sir Peter Blake, Mary Cassatt and Frank Auerbach, alongside the return of two of the gallery’s best-known portrait prizes.
The year begins with Peter Blake: Pop Art Life, running from 11 February to 23 May 2027. Created in close collaboration with Sir Peter Blake, the exhibition will be the first major institutional show devoted specifically to his portraiture. Works spanning eight decades will trace the British Pop Art pioneer’s fascination with celebrity, music and popular culture, from images of Bo Diddley, Sammy Davis Jr and The Beatles to portraits of Ian Dury and Eric Clapton. The exhibition will also feature works created on unconventional surfaces, including a military locker, a door and an album cover.
Spring also welcomes Mary Cassatt: Radical Impressionist from 11 March to 13 June 2027. Marking the first UK retrospective dedicated to the pioneering American Impressionist, the show has been organised with the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to coincide with the centenary of Cassatt’s death. The exhibition will focus on the women she depicted, including family members, friends, patrons, professional models and anonymous figures, while exploring her representations of domestic rituals, theatre visits and motherhood. Many of the works have never previously been displayed in the UK.
The summer programme sees the return of the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award from 24 June to 10 October 2027. Now entering its 45th edition, the competition has attracted more than 50,000 entries from over 100 countries since its inception and remains a significant platform for contemporary portrait painters.
Literature will also take centre stage with 100 Writers, running from 15 July to 12 September 2027. The exhibition will bring visitors face-to-face with 100 figures from English literature, ranging from Shakespeare to contemporary writers, with further details due to be announced.
Autumn belongs to Frank Auerbach. Opening on 14 October 2027 and running until 9 January 2028, the first major posthumous exhibition dedicated to the German-British artist will examine his approach to portraiture across seven decades. Paintings and drawings of recurring sitters will appear alongside self-portraits and depictions of familiar London locations including Primrose Hill and Mornington Crescent. The show will later travel to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in spring 2028.
Rounding out the programme is the Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize, opening on 4 November 2027 and running until 6 February 2028. The annual competition celebrates contemporary photographic portraiture, bringing together work by emerging talents, amateurs and established photographers across commissioned and more intimate forms of portraiture.
With major retrospectives, literary icons and some of contemporary portraiture’s newest names all on the calendar, the National Portrait Gallery’s 2027 programme offers plenty of reasons for art lovers to return throughout the year.
Where: National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE
Contact: www.npg.org.uk