Portrait Gallery dressed down for fashion show

The National Portrait Gallery has been criticised for closing to the public for a day so it can host a show during London Fashion Week.

Art historian Bendor Grosvenor called the move “completely pathetic”.

Despite the brevity of the show, the gallery insisted it had to stay shut on Monday February 19 to dismantle seating and staging arrangements.

Last night a spokesman for the NPG, which is more than 70 per cent self-funded, said: “The gallery is open 362 days a year and is only closed for private events on average 0.3 days per annum. There are no temporary exhibitions running on 19 February.”