Coram began life as a seaman, rising to the position of merchant captain. He spent ten years farming in America before returning to England in 1703. Seeing the poverty in the East End of London ...

Richard Graves was an English poet and novelist. Born in Gloucestershire, he was the son of an antiquary of the same name. Graves was a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, but lost this position ...

“...rediscover some forgotten photographers, like the mysterious Tunbridge, the elegant Paul Tanqueray or the versatile Davis Boulton[...], who fully deserve ...

The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize returns for its 17th year, showcasing the work of talented young photographers, gifted amateurs and established professionals in the very best of contemporary ...

The online database contains information on over 220,000 works, 150,000 of which are illustrated; the National Portrait Gallery's collection includes over 350,000 works. We update the database daily.

The inventor and entrepreneur, Richard Arkwright is one of the leading figures of the Industrial Revolution. In 1769 he patented a water-powered spinning machine that could spin a vast number of ...

pencil drawing squared in ink for transfer, October 1819 (exhibited 1819) ...

Father of Howard Carter. Carter was an artist who specialised in animal and sporting paintings and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions. He trained Howard in the skills of ...

In the 1820s Margaret Gillies was a pupil of Frederick Cruikshank, a Scottish miniature painter. During the first two decades of her career Gillies made large miniature portraits, and some subject ...

Following the death of his father George V, Edward succeeds to the throne as King Edward VIII, but chooses to abdicate in order to marry the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. Edward was the only ...

The Reference Collection is held in the Heinz Archive and Library and contains more than 70,000 portraits of important and lesser known figures in British history. The majority of these portraits are ...

The Primary Collection contains more than 12,700 portraits. Of these, over 4,100 are paintings, sculptures and miniatures. In addition, there are over 8,500 light-sensitive works on paper, shown on a ...