National Portrait Gallery exhibitions 2026: What’s on now and what’s coming soon
- maxwell museums
- Dec 23, 2025
- 5 min read
The National Portrait Gallery’s exhibitions in 2026 are star studded, with big shows dedicated to big names including Marylin Monroe and Lucian Freud to name just two.
Ever since the gallery expanded and reopened in 2023, it has seen a huge spike in visitor numbers and has enjoyed an elevated profile. It's already hosted blockbuster sell-out shows on Francis Bacon, Edvard Munch and Jenny Saville, and it was even shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2024.
It’s no surprise then, that what’s on at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is the question on the lips of many art lovers. While the permanent galleries show the NPG’s world-class collection of portraits of celebrated and noted Britons, the temporary exhibitions allow them to explore broader, more international topics related to portraiture.
So if you’re planning on stepping through the gallery’s impressive Tracey Emin designed bronze entrance doors in 2026 to see one or many of the NPG’s exhibitions, I’ve got you covered.
Here’s my guide to the current and upcoming exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery that you cannot miss this year.
What’s on right now at the National Portrait Gallery
Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025
54 works by 51 photographers are exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery’s annual showcase of excellence in portrait photography — and this year with artists spanning from Malaysia and Sweden to New Zealand and Argentina. Visitors can see the winner of the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025 — Martina Holmberg’s Mel — which depicts a burn survivor, gazing thoughtfully out of a window. Judges commended this portrait for its combination of compassionate approach and technical skill, noting how the beautiful lighting and thoughtful pose draw viewers into the sitter’s remarkable story. The runner-up prize winners can also be viewed until the show closes on 08 February 2026.
Upcoming National Portrait Gallery exhibitions in 2026
From surveys of Marylin Monroe to Lucian Freud, the 2026 exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery puts solo stars — and photography — in the spotlight. Here's what's coming up.
Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting
Celebrated artist Lucian Freud’s last exhibition at the NPG (in 2012) is its most popular in history. So big things are expected from this new major examination of his drawings and how they shaped his art. Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting will run from 12 February until 04 May 2026, and will feature 170 drawings and etchings (and yes, some paintings) so visitors can trace how this medium remained a core part of his career. The highly-anticipated show will be the UK’s most comprehensive museum exhibition exploring Lucian Freud’s drawings ever staged, and many works will be seen publicly for the first time.
Catherine Opie: To Be Seen
This will be the very first museum exhibition in the UK dedicated to the celebrated American photographer Catherine Opie. It'll open at the NPG from 05 March to 31 May 2026 and will show over 80 photographs by Ohio-born Opie, across studio portraiture, LGBTQ+ portraiture, environmental studies, and documentary photography. The artist has worked closely with the exhibition’s curators to bring Catherine Opie: To Be Seen to life, and she’ll even turn the spotlight on the National Portrait Gallery itself, exploring its influence on those who visit and what its role in national identity is.
Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait
To celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of the world’s most famous film star, Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait will be one of the highlights of London’s summer exhibitions. Many famous artists and photographers captured Monroe, and they will all be shown here — highlights include Andy Warhol, Pauline Boty, Marlene Dumas, Cecil Beaton, Eve Arnold and Richard Avedon. Open from 04 June until 06 September 2026, curators promise a show that highlights how Monroe collaborated on many of her images, and a narrative that will explore her life, career and legacy. The exhibition will also include personal belongings such as books, scripts and clothes to enrich understanding of the woman behind the image.
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026
Britain’s most important award for portrait painters returns for its 44th edition. Since its inception, the long-standing Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award competition has attracted over 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries and has been seen by over six million people. The highly competitive award encourages artists over the age of 18 to focus upon, and develop, the theme of portraiture in their work. This free exhibition of the dozens of shortlisted works will open on 25 June and will run until 07 October. The 2025 first prize of £35,000 was awarded to British artist Moira Cameron for a large-scale self portrait.
Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love and Legends
Celebrated photographer Tim Walker is known for his fantastical depictions of famous faces. This exhibition — which will run from 08 October 2026 to 31 January 2027 — will take visitors on a journey into Walker’s inner world and its many inspirations and influences. Walker’s career has seen him photograph celebrities including Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga, Pet Shop Boys, Sir Ian McKellen, Hunter Schafer, Miriam Margolyes and Frank Ocean, while his work has featured in international magazines including Vogue, Vanity Fair, W, LOVE, Another Man and i-D. While details on what specifically will be displayed in Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love and Legends is still under wraps, we can expect some of these striking images to feature, plus new works taken specially for this show of queer activists, performers, artists, and writers.
Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2026
The National Portrait Gallery’s other annual prize — this time for portrait photography — will return for its 2026 edition on 05 November and will run until 17 January 2027. Each year the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize showcases the work of talented young photographers, gifted amateurs and established professionals. NPG Director Victoria Siddall says that the "prestigious award has a tradition of showcasing the work of some of the most skillful, thoughtful, and groundbreaking photographers working today." Around 50 photographers are expected to be shown, with their work ranging from formal commissioned portraits to more spontaneous and intimate moments capturing friends and family. The selected images are usually shown publicly for the first time.
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