Every surviving Van Eyck portrait is coming to London's National Gallery — for the first time ever
- maxwell museums
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The National Gallery in London is to host a world-first Jan van Eyck exhibition in 2026. Focussed on the great Netherlandish master’s surviving portraits, Van Eyck: The Portraits will undoubtedly be one of the most anticipated art exhibitions in Europe of the year. The monumental show will open on 21 November 2026 and run until 11 April 2027.
For the first time ever, all nine of the artist’s painted portraits will be brought together. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover how the 15th-century pioneer propelled art into a new era, and how he transformed portraiture forever.
Jan van Eyck was active from 1422–1441 — that’s 600 years ago FYI! Only around twenty of his paintings survive to today. HALF of these will be on display in the National Gallery exhibition.
And in the small chance that wasn’t enough to tempt you to book tickets, bosses at the National Gallery are saying these paintings will NEVER be united again.
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A statement says that because many of van Eyck’s paintings are so precious, old and fragile, it means they rarely travel. Therefore this exhibition marks the first and only time these works can be brought together.
They highlight the fact that one of the star items — the gallery’s own Arnolfini Portrait (1434), which is the most popular work online from their collection — has only left its Trafalgar Square home once in a century. So (the theory goes), the National Gallery is the ONLY place this landmark show can happen.
Other landmark moments in this art blockbuster will be the reunion — for the first time ever — of the Arnolfini Portrait with a panel showing the same sitter: Portrait of a Man (Giovanni? Arnolfini) It dates from.1440 and will be coming on loan from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
The National Gallery has also newly conserved its van Eyck Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?) from 1433. It will be shown next to the portrait of his enterprising wife Margaret (created in 1439, and on loan from Groeningemuseum, Bruges), which is the first known portrait of a woman who was not a member of the aristocracy.
And for the first time in its history, Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum will allow both its paintings by van Eyck to go on loan at the same time.
The National Gallery’s Director, Sir Gabriele Finaldi, hails the upcoming Jan van Eyck portraits exhibition, saying in a press release that the artist is "a foundational figure in the European history of art.
"The portraits reflect a remarkable sensitivity to his sitters and an astounding technical virtuosity in their execution.”
Emma Capron, Curator of Early Netherlandish and German Paintings at the Gallery, said that portraiture “bursts onto the scene fully formed in the 1430s under the brush of Jan van Eyck” and that his revolutionary depictions of people meant society was “faced with individuals pulsating with life, every single detail of their appearance captured, sitters who look back at us and who speak to us through elaborate and often enigmatic inscriptions.
“These portraits’ ability to baffle by their precision and liveliness is intact today. Their impact belies their intimate scale. We are really proud and grateful to our lenders to be able to show van Eyck’s pioneering contribution to the rise of portraiture in this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition” she said.
It's almost certain that this exhibition will be a massive hit — because of the rarity of the loans and the fact that people will be massively excited to see nine of his astonishing portraits reunited in one gallery. So book early when tickets for the Jan van Eyck exhibition at the National Gallery go on sale in 2026.
But it’s not the only landmark moment in the National Gallery’s 2026 exhibition programme.
In October 2026, a major Pierre-Auguste Renoir exhibition will open. It’s described as the “most significant” collection of the French impressionist’s work in the UK for 20 years, and will see over 50 works go on show, in collaboration with the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
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