The National Portrait Gallery is much loved in the U.K. as both a distinguished art museum and a vibrant, even rhapsodic record of the country’s history. In many ways, it’s our history, too. I’ve written about its very good exhibitions over the years but, alas, the NPG closed in 2020 for a long-planned renovation and addition. I held my breath. I love the place. Wrecking it was certainly a possibility, but it has a director I admire. He’s no doubt inspired by having been born in the same hospital in New Haven where I was born.
Speculation aside, the Brits take their historic treasures seriously. The NPG reopened this summer, christened by the Princess of Wales. I finally got there last week.
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