The National Portrait Gallery has announced its exhibition programme for 2027, featuring major retrospectives on post-war painter Frank Auerbach, American Impressionist Mary Cassatt, and British pop-artist Sir Peter Blake. The Trafalgar Square gallery’s schedule also includes the return of its annual portrait awards and a new literary-themed exhibition.
Peter Blake: Pop Art Life Opens the Year
The year begins with Peter Blake: Pop Art Life (Feb 11–May 23), a major retrospective for the 94-year-old artist, a key figure of the British pop art movement. This is the first major institutional show dedicated to the Royal Academician’s portraits, bringing together highlights from his eight-decade career, including images of musical icons like Bo Diddley, Sammy Davis Jr, and The Beatles, for whom he created the iconic Sgt. Pepper album artwork.
Mary Cassatt: Radical Impressionist in Spring
In spring, the gallery presents Mary Cassatt: Radical Impressionist (Mar 11–Jun 13), the first UK retrospective on the often-overlooked American Impressionist. Co-created with Paris’s Musée d’Orsay and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to mark the centenary of Cassatt’s death, the exhibition focuses on her portraits of women, from family and friends to patrons, professional models, and unknown figures.
Summer Shows: Kramer Portrait Award and 100 Writers
Over the summer, the NPG will host the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award (Jun 24–Oct 10), celebrating contemporary portrait painting. The award has received over 50,000 submissions from more than 100 countries since its inception in 1980. Coinciding with this is 100 Writers (Jul 15–Sep 12), an exhibition of portraits featuring 100 celebrated figures in the English literary canon, from Shakespeare to the present day.
Frank Auerbach Retrospective in Autumn
Autumn 2027 sees the gallery host the first major posthumous exhibition on Frank Auerbach (Oct 14–TBC). Exploring the post-war German-British artist’s distinctive portraits over a career spanning seven decades, it will feature his portrayals of Primrose Hill, Mornington Crescent, and other locations near his Camden studio, as well as exploring the inspiration he took from Old Master paintings.
To close out the year, the gallery will host another edition of its portrait photography competition, the Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize (Nov 4–TBC). Established in 2003, the award showcases the best in contemporary photographic portraiture, featuring work ranging from formal, commissioned portraits to spontaneous, intimate moments between family and friends.
