Boulevard AR app for iPhone and iPad

Exploring works of art has never been this up close and personal. Boulevard AR brings art to you, wherever you are, and now features three important paintings from London’s National Portrait Gallery collection. Representing 20th-century Nobel-Prize winning chemist Dorothy Hodgkin, renowned 19th-century painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, alongside his friend, the critic and novelist Theodore Watts-Dunton, and lastly Sir Henry Unton, a diplomat and soldier from the Elizabethan era, Boulevard AR’s offerings reveal secrets and tell stories across a 400-year span.

Curators from the National Portrait Gallery narrate the immersive experiences and guide users through select aspects, allowing for independent exploration of these fascinating artworks. You can place any of the portraits on a wall, in your own space, and move towards them for close-up looking; tap to activate unique elements in each. Music and layered effects make your augmented reality encounters with history even more meaningful and complete.

Bring each of these portraits into your world and see what unfolds.


-"Eye of the Beholder” update adds optics theme to the mix.

-Simple UI: tap to interact.

-User-driven experience: self-guided discovery and interactivity.

-8K image: user can get closer than ever possible in a museum! See fine details of brushwork and application of paint.

-Boulevard Arts ecosystem provides engaging and entertaining interdisciplinary learning opportunities.

-Optimized for iOS 11 with ARKit.

*Music credits:
Unton: Lachrimae, or Seven Tears - 9. Sir Henry Umptons Funeral by I Solipsisti is licensed under CC by 3.0
Hodgkin: Momentum - Stock media provided by Michael Weber Music/Pond5
Rossetti: Mendelssohn, Songs Without Words Op. 30 no. 1 - Stock media provided by Michael Weber Music/Pond5