Today these are housed in a separate building across Orange Street to make way for the galleries. These were added to, quietly and elegantly, by John and Su Miller in the 80s. The portraits speak for themselves. This is a gallery that offers a singular experience - although the way visitors will use the building now will be quite different from how it was before. They will find new routes through the building, and are now more likely to linger in the gallery.
Entry is still free, and it is a fine place in which to hide away on a rainy afternoon.
The museum politics of the Dixon Jones extension are interesting too. In order to get the space Saumarez Smith wanted, his architects initiated a deal whereby part of the building would be given over to the National Gallery next door and vice versa. I and the rest would have made of such reticence. Even so, it is a fine foil to the opulent paintings it contains and, given the densely built-up location, which allows little or no room for forceful new architecture, this is reason enough to welcome its gentlemanly presence.