Van Eyck’s portraits, all together for the first time, at the National Gallery
From 21 November the National Gallery brings together all of Jan van Eyck's known painted portraits, for the first and only time. Tickets are £18. Why it's worth going.
Museums say “once in a lifetime” rather often. On 21 November the National Gallery in London opens an exhibition that may actually deserve it. Van Eyck: The Portraits brings together, for the first time, all of Jan van Eyck’s known painted portraits, and the Gallery says it will be the first and only time they can be seen in one place.
It runs until 11 April 2027 in the Ground Floor Galleries. Booking is open, and standard admission is £18 with an audio guide included. Under-18s go free, and so do Gallery members.
Why it’s worth your afternoon
The National Gallery’s argument is that portraiture as we know it begins here, in the 1430s. Before van Eyck, portraits tended to be flattering ideals. He painted what was in front of him: bloodshot eyes, growing stubble, untidy hair, wrinkles and flushed cheeks. Several of his sitters look straight out at you, and they still do it six centuries later.
Who they were is what makes this one for our reader. Van Eyck was court painter to Philip the Good, yet the people in this show are, in the Gallery’s words, not kings, queens and aristocrats. They are successful craftsmen, merchants and his own relatives. Many of these are people who made their way by working at something, and here they are recorded honestly, stubble included. It is a useful thing to stand in front of, if you’ve just started earning proper money and are wondering what to do with it.
What to look for
- The backs of the panels. Several portraits are being shown in the round for the first time, so you can see the painted fake stone on the reverse.
- The signatures. Van Eyck often signed and dated his work, sometimes with his motto, Als ich can: “As I can”. As a line for a man to work by, it takes some beating.
- The drawing beside the painting. His only surviving drawing, a study of an elderly man, is reunited with the finished portrait for only the second time.
- Margaret. The portrait of his wife, from 1439, is described by the Gallery as the first dated, identifiable portrait of a woman who wasn’t an aristocrat.
How to do it well
Book ahead rather than turning up. The Gallery’s own events are worth a look too: a free curator’s introduction in the Pigott Theatre on Monday 8 February 2027, open to everyone, and for members a free online talk on 7 January, “Van Eyck and fashion: Cloth, clothing, character”, which is exactly as interesting as it sounds if you care about how men dress. Check availability on the Gallery’s site, as some related events have already filled up.
The Gallery is on Trafalgar Square, so it fits neatly into a weekend in London.
How we chose: dates, prices and details are from the National Gallery’s own exhibition pages, read on 1 November 2026. The Gallery’s pages give the number of portraits as both nine and ten, so we haven’t quoted one. We have not seen the exhibition, and nobody paid to appear here.
