The National Portrait Gallery is allowing some of its best-known works to leave London and feature in major new exhibitions in cities across England.
The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics will open at The Holburne Museum in Bath in January 2022 with 25 of the gallery’s most famous Tudor portraits.
That will be followed by an expanded exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool the following May, featuring 68 works.
It is the first time such a significant number of the National Portrait Gallery’s Tudor portraits have been lent for exhibition, the gallery said.
Also on loan together for first time are 58 of the gallery’s portraits of the Bloomsbury Group and their closest associates.
Beyond Bloomsbury: Life, Love And Legacy will open at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield in November this year before moving to York Art Gallery in March 2022.
Dr Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with our colleagues in Bath, Liverpool, Sheffield and York to create this once in a generation opportunity to see some of the nation’s best-loved portraits exhibited together outside of London.
“Through all our projects and partnerships we hope to be able to share our collection with new and different audiences across the UK, some of whom may not have had the opportunity to visit the gallery in London.”
The Tudors: Passion, Power And Politics presents the five Tudor monarchs – Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I – as well as other significant figures such as Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Robert Dudley and William Cecil.
Beyond Bloomsbury: Life, Love And Legacy will feature key figures from the group including Virginia Woolf and her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell.