Lucian Freud exhibition so popular, opening hours extend at London gallery

Tuesday, 1 May 2012 10:59 AM

The National Portrait Gallery’s Lucian Freud exhibition is proving so popular that the London Gallery are extending their opening hours until midnight, to cope with excess demand.

The show will be open until midnight for the last three days of the exhibition, which ends on May 27th.

It is the first exhibition to focus solely on portraiture from the famous British artist, and features more than 100 paintings – as well as the last work painted by Freud before he died in July 2011.

Other highlights include insightful paintings of the artist’s lovers, friends and family – which demonstrate the psychological drama and unrelenting observational intensity of his work.

Since opening in February, the exhibition has attracted 175,000 – overtaking Mario Testino Portraits (2002), David Hockney Portraits (2006) and Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life (2008) as the most popular pay-for show in the gallery.

Previously, opening hours at the London gallery extended until nine pm to allow for extra visitors.

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