Research Resources

The Collection

The Primary Collection consists of 12,700 portraits, of which about 4000 are paintings, sculptures and miniatures, and 7000 light-sensitive works on paper. The Photographs Collection consists of more than 250,000 original photographic images, of which at least 130,000 are original negatives. The Reference Collection consists of over 70,000 portraits, mainly prints, but also a body of drawings and a smaller body of paintings and sculptures.

Heinz Archive and Library

Through its holdings and staff expertise, the National Portrait Gallery Archive and Library is the foremost centre for the study of and research into portraiture. Holdings include 35,000 books, unpublished image and index files with records relating to British portraits held in public and private collections worldwide, and records relating to the Gallery’s activities since its foundation in 1856. The Gallery has also been collecting archives relating to British portrait artists, art historians of portraiture and significant portrait collections since 1860. There are over 50 Collected Archives, which range from Charles Beale’s diary from the late 17th century charting his wife Mary Beale’s fortunes as a portrait artist, to the late 20th and early 21st century papers associated with Lucian Freud and his family. The Gallery remains deeply grateful for Drue Heinz’s generous bequest to support the Heinz Archive and Library, which continues to help sustain its conservation and public access.

Conservation Studios

The Gallery has three specialist conservation studios: framing; paintings and sculpture; and works on paper, photographs and miniatures. These are equipped with a range of analytical equipment, enabling x-radiography, infrared reflectography, photomicroscopy and cross-section analysis to be undertaken by the conservation team.

Cover image: Reference images of Mary Ann Yates in the Sitter box files of the Heinz Archive and Library © National Portrait Gallery, London