Marilyn Monroe centenary exhibition to feature at National Portrait Gallery

A centenary exhibition celebrating Marilyn Monroe, an exploration of queer identity, and a display of Lucian Freud’s drawings will be part of the National Portrait Gallery’s programme in 2026.

Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait will open at the London gallery in summer next year to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of the star, who was born in Los Angeles on June 1 1926, showcasing works by Andy Warhol, Marlene Dumas and Pauline Boty, along with her personal belongings.

Items on display will include clothing worn by the Hollywood actress and model, as well as books and scripts she owned.

The exhibition will launch on June 4 and run until September 6, and will also feature some of the earliest pin-up photos, made as Norma-Jean, as well as Monroe’s final photos taken on a beach in Malibu in 1962.

On February 12, Lucian Freud: Drawing Into Painting will open at the gallery, featuring his work from the 1930s to the early 21st century along with sketchbooks which detail his working life, and will run until May 3.

Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love And Legends will explore queer identity through Walker’s lens, looking at his photographic style which is inspired by fantasy themes, having spent five years photographing activists, performers, artists, and writers for the exhibition.

Walker, whose exhibition will open on October 8 and run until January 2027, is known for photographing musical acts including Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga, the Pet Shop Boys, and Frank Ocean, and other stars such as model Hunter Schafer and actress Miriam Margolyes.

Other exhibitions which will run as part of the 2026 programme include Catherine Opie: To Be Seen, which will open on March 5 and run to May 31, and the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize, which will see its competitors’ work displayed from October 29 to January 2027.

There will also be the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award, considered one of the most important platforms for modern portrait painters, which will see its entrants’ work exhibited from June 25 to October 7.