The gallery holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. The Collection is displayed in London and in a number of locations around the United Kingdom. Artists range from Holbein to Hockney, and the Collection includes work across all media, from painting and sculpture to photography and video. As well as the permanent displays, the Gallery has a diverse and ever-changing programme of exhibitions and events which promote an appreciation of portraiture in all forms.
Kate's first visit to the gallery as patron coincided with her first solo engagement in February 2012. The Duchess visited the Lucian Freud exhibition 'The People in my life', which was described by reviewers as a fitting farewell to Freud who passed away in 2011. During a reception, Kate told Mary McCartney (daughter of Paul McCartney) she had been looking up her work and was hugely impressed by it.
The Duchess returned to the gallery in July for the The Road to 2012: Aiming High Exhibition. Kate was the guest of honour at the Olympic photography exhibition which documented three years of preparation for the London games. The engagement combined Kate's roles as patron of the National Portrait Gallery and Olympic ambassador. Kate wore her favourite Stella McCartney dress (of course Stella is the sister of photographer Mary who Kate met during her first visit) and the dazzling Cartier Trinity necklace.
The Telegraph wrote: "Road to 2012 is the biggest photographic commission the NPG has ever undertaken, a three year project reaching its culmination this month to celebrate the festival of running, jumping and diving about to take place seven miles to the east. These are not quick snaps or candid behind the scenes revelations. Anderson and Low shot rowers, swimmers and gymnasts in their training environments to create the formality and feel of a fine art portrait".
A photo of the Duchess taken during a Team GB hockey event featured in the exhibition.
On 11 January 2013, the first official portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge was unveiled at the NPG. Kate was involved in the selection process, from which artist Paul Emsley, the 2007 winner of the Gallery's BP Portrait Award competition was chosen. Emsley's subjects are frequently located against a dark background and emphasize, 'the singularity and silence of the form'. Kate attended two sittings for the portrait in May 2012 and June 2012 at the artist's studio and Kensington Palace. The Duchess wore a bottle-green French Connection pussybow blouse and her sapphire and diamond earrings.
Speaking about the portrait Mr Emsley said: 'The Duchess explained that she would like to be portrayed naturally - her natural self - as opposed to her official self. She struck me as an enormously open and generous and a very warm person. After initially feeling it would be an unsmiling portrait I think it was the right choice in the end to have her smiling - that is really who she is'.
A preliminary study for the painted portrait.
Kate was reportedly thrilled with the results "I thought it was brilliant, Amazing, Absolutely brilliant". William described the portrait of his wife as "beautiful".
Kate wore a pale blue bespoke Emilia Wickstead dress for a reception at the National Portrait Gallery celebrating the work of her patronage The Art Room in April 2013. The Duchess made a short speech noting she is a "firm believer in the the power of art to make a difference and The Art Room makes this on a daily basis". The outing marked one of her last engagements before George was born.
The Duchess carried out her first engagement of 2014, attending the Portrait Gala at the NPG, on 11 February. Funds raised by the Gala support the Gallery's daily work of delivering inspirational exhibitions and displays, offering unique learning opportunities and undertaking world-class research.
Kate was glamorous in her ink blue off-the-shoulder Jenny Packham gown and the stunning Nizam of Hyderabad necklace. The piece was given to her Majesty as a wedding gift in 1947 from the Nizam of Hyderabad then King of a state in India. The Nizam was the owner of one of the most celebrated and largest private jewellery collections in the world.
In March 2015, when Kate was expecting Charlotte, she supported the arts in Margate in her role as patron of the NPG. Turner Contemporary is one of the UK’s leading art galleries and since opening in 2011 has become one of the most successful galleries in the UK, welcoming more than 1.4 million visits. It's been widely credited as a catalyst for the regeneration of Margate, generating an astounding £32 million for the local economy. The Duchess sported her Hobbs Dalmatian coat for the visit.
The Duchess viewed the 'Self: Image and Identity' exhibition which includes the last self-portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck, which was acquired for the nation by the National Portrait Gallery through a public appeal with The Art Fund.
Duchess Kate was pretty in pink McQueen in May 2016 for a visit to the National Portrait Gallery to view the 'Vogue 100: A Century of Style' exhibition.
The visit coincided with Kate's Vogue shoot. The Duchess posed in the Norfolk countryside for a series of photographic portraits by photographer Josh Olins. Kate was persuaded to participate in her first magazine shoot thanks to the connection with her patronage. Two portraits from the photo shoot featured in the exhibition.
An aide said it was a "surreal" experience for Kate seeing the pictures but that she had enjoyed the process enormously. The Duchess discussed the exhibition decision-making process and photography as she viewed her portraits with Josh Olins.
In March 2017, Kate made her second appearance at the Portrait Gala, wearing a very elegant green lace Temperley London gown and statement Kiki McDonough earrings.
To mark the gala, and help raise funds during the evening, a range of artwork was especially created, including 10 unique masks by the likes of Dame Vivienne Westwood and Philip Treacy, and 100 postcard-sized works of art for a Mystery Portrait Postcard Sale.
Before dinner, Kate met a selection of guests at a reception, including those who have contributed to the event, friends of the gallery and artists. Kate met Phillip Chung, father of television presenter and model Alexa Chung, who remarked on the collection of art he had built up thanks to his children. The Duchess told him that she too had begun gathering her own children's artistic efforts together. The gallery's director Dr. Nicholas Cullinan was delighted to accompany HRH. He joked "It’s interesting to be talking to so many people, and know none of them are looking at me"
On a snowy night in February 2018, the Duchess spent the evening at the NPG to view the exhibition 'Victorian Giants: The Birth of Art Photography'.
'Victorian Giants: The Birth of Art Photography' brought together for the first time portraits by Oscar Rejlander, Lewis Carroll, Julia Margaret Cameron and Lady Clementina Hawarden. Kate wrote a foreword to the exhibition catalogue. She discussed her interest in 19th century photography, the subject of her undergraduate thesis while an art history student at the University of St Andrews. "This period of history has long interested me. Photographs of children in particular, which feature predominately within the exhibition are of real interest to me. The photographs allow us to reflect on the importance of preserving and appreciating childhood while it lasts. Children held a special place in the Victorian imagination and were celebrated for their seemingly boundless potential. The notion still rings true for us today and it underpins much of my official work and the charities I have chosen to support, and, indeed, my role as a mother of a young family."
The Duchess put her history of art degree to good use, she selected several Victorian photographs and wrote captions which were displayed with the images for a special 'Patron's Trail'. In one caption Kate wrote a child's natural curiosity is "so hard to capture in posed photographs".
For those visiting London, I would encourage you to visit the NPG. Admission is free and there's always outstanding exhibitions to see. Click here to find out more :)
