Family Album

25 October to 13 December 2008

Explore family life and relationships in Britain over the centuries, from Elizabethan times to the present day, with this exhibition of paintings, drawings and photographs from the National Portrait Gallery.

See how the idea of 'family' can mean different things to different people and how it’s influenced by time, place and circumstances. However you define it, whether through relations, friends, faith, colleagues or community, this is an exhibition that celebrates the many different people who help shape our lives.

Sitters in the exhibition include Sir Walter Raleigh, John Major, Vivienne Westwood and Ringo Starr. Exhibition themes include love and marriage, early years, parent and child and the wider family.

With related holiday workshops, plus some carefully selected interactive resources there’s plenty of opportunity for you to examine the portraits on display more closely.

Family Album is a collaborative exhibition between the National Portrait Gallery, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, Beningbrough Hall and Gardens, Yorkshire, Montacute House, Somerset, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and Museums Sheffield. The exhibition is supported by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)/Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) Strategic Commissioning National/Regional Museum Education Partnerships Programme.

Image captions clockwise from left:

The Wedding of Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach by Terry O’Neill
© Terry O'Neill

Athene Seyler with her daughter Jane by Bassano
© National Portrait Gallery, London

Five Children of King Charles I by Sir Anthony Van Dyck
© National Portrait Gallery, London

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