AN art gallery will reopen following a six-month refurbishment with a host of displays and four exhibitions - including masterpieces from the national collection.

The Laing Gallery, in Newcastle, opens on Saturday, with Making Faces, which features works by artists including Rembrandt, Goya, Renoir, Warhol and Opie.

Making Faces, consisting of 27 works, explores the way painters have represented faces, from the profile portraits of 15th Century Italy, such as the Portrait of a Lady in Red, to the abstracted images of Frank Auerbach's Julia.

Curator Julie Milne said: "We are delighted to be reopening the Laing following a major refurbishment and with such a stunning exhibition. Making Faces features paintings by some of the world's greatest artists and we are pleased to be bringing this exhibition to the region.

"The Laing has undergone its biggest refurbishment since it opened in 1904, and it is fitting in its centenary year that the building has had a facelift and is looking better than ever.

"Not only will we be re-opening with Making Faces, but also three other new exhibitions, a new gallery to display our internationally important watercolours and improved visitor facilities."

Making Faces is sponsored by Gerrard Limited, which is supporting the partnership at the Laing for the third year in succession.

Two other displays are in The Barbour Watercolour Gallery. Three exhibitions will make up the launch programme, including a new commission by Mark Wallinger, one of the country's leading contemporary artists.

The gallery was granted more than £430,000 for the refurbishments, including donations from the Northern Rock Foundation, the Barbour Trust, Newcastle City Council and the Friends of the Laing.

The gallery has been repainted, floors and stonework sanded and an original stained glass window reinstalled. The stars of the gallery's 18th and 19th Century collections have also been conserved and rehung. The Laing is open from 10am to 5pm, from Monday to Saturday, and from 2pm to 5pm on Sunday. Entry is free.