National Gallery special!
Celebrating 200 years of the art icon
Hello.
In 3 day’s time, the National Gallery in London will be 73,050 days old. Or 200 years exactly, if you’re that way inclined.
To mark the milestone — and remember, very few museums or galleries are much older — I’m dedicating this week’s ‘views and interviews’ edition to the extraordinary Trafalgar Square temple of extraordinary art.
My Big Interview is vast. I speak to most of the venues across Britain hosting the National Gallery’s most important treasures this summer
The 250 Take sees the National Gallery’s former Director Sir Charles Saumarez Smith look back on its founding in 1824
And my Hot List features some of the best events and products to help you get involved in the art world’s biggest birthday bash.
— maxwell
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The Hot List
My curated round-up of the best events and products to help you get involved in the National Gallery’s birthday
EVENT
1️⃣ Big Birthday Light Show | Trafalgar Square
Featuring highlights from the Gallery's history plus extraordinary paintings brought to life, watch in awe as this spectacular show lights up the famous facade, bringing the inside outside.
Friday 10 + Saturday 11 May, 21:00 | find out more here
BOOK
2️⃣ The National Gallery Highlights | by Annetta Berry
Newly published for the bicentenary, 76 highlight masterpieces from the Gallery’s collection are spotlighted. Beautifully produced in a handy pocket-sized format, it’s the perfect memento for all fans of this unrivalled art collection.
published by National Gallery Global | buy your copy here
FILM
3️⃣ My National Gallery, London | In select UK cinemas
Gallery workers and celebrity fans — including Claudia Winkleman and Michael Palin — identify the artworks that mean the most to them. This cinematic event examines the power of great art by those closest to it.
released 04 June 2024 \ find out more
HOMEWARE
4️⃣ Vincent Van Gogh vase | by Aylesford Pottery in Kent
The NG’s two centuries is being marked with a “once in a century” Van Gogh exhibition this autumn. Ahead of this blockbuster, you can bring Vincent into your own home with a beautiful handmade replica of the famous Sun Flowers vase.
EXHIBITION
5️⃣ The Last Caravaggio | Room 46
It might be small but it’s perfectly formed. This free exhibition focuses on one incredible painting: The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, Caravaggio’s last-known work. It’s seen in London for the first time in 20 years.
now open — until 21 July 2024 | discover more
The 250 Take
This week in my 250-word opinion column from guest writers, the former Director of the National Gallery Charles Saumarez Smith looks back at the gallery’s radical beginnings in 1824.
💬 Unthinkable today, the National Gallery’s founding was groundbreaking. Let’s celebrate.
“John Julius Angerstein’s private house — 103, Pall Mall — first opened to the public on 10 May 1824 so that a broad public could enjoy the pleasure — for free — of seeing and experiencing the paintings he’d acquired during his life as an émigré Russian trader.
There have been anxieties that Angerstein’s collecting activities are tainted by the fact that his wealth came from his involvement in shipping insurance which meant that he supported the transatlantic slave trade.
By his second marriage to Eliza Lucas, he acquired her first husband’s estate on St. Kitts in the Caribbean. As trustee of the de Ponthieu trust, he was involved with the management of the de Ponthieu coffee plantation in Grenada. At the same time, he was also a founding member of the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor established to assist those who needed financial support. Other members were abolitionists.
Angerstein was a classic city merchant. Adventurous in the way he supported the regulation of marine insurance, unusual in the extent to which he was involved with — and supported — artists. And remarkable in the way that he built up such a wide-ranging and impressive collection that included the great painting by Sebastiano del Piombo of the Raising of Lazarus, which became NG1.
It’s implausible now that the House of Commons would buy a private collection for public benefit. May 10 will be a moment to celebrate the acquisition of Angerstein’s collection as a National Gallery.”
— Sir Charles Saumarez Smith was Director of the National Gallery from 2002 to 2007. His book The Art Museum in Modern Times is available in hardback now.
The Big Interview
On Friday, 12 museums and galleries across all four nations of the United Kingdom will simultaneously open major new displays.
They’re all centred around one masterpiece from the National Gallery’s collection, which are being loaned out to celebrate the bicentenary.
Collectively titled National Treasures, these really are the crème de la crème going on loan. They include paintings such as Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire and Velázquez’s The Rokeby Venus.
Over half of the UK's population will be within one hour's travel of a National Gallery painting. Great news for the nation’s art lovers, great news for the Gallery’s positioning as a gallery for all of Britain.
To mark this hugely ambitious project, I’ve spoken to most of the venues involved so that I can bring you the highlights of what’s planned, why it’s so special for them and their audiences, and what they hope the successes are. Enjoy.
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In a nutshell, what is the display you are creating — and why?
Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
“The Fighting Temeraire is the centrepiece of a major exhibition exploring themes of industry and nostalgia. Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia contextualises The Fighting Temeraire within Turner’s wider practice and draws links between the picture and the industrial northeast. It explores artistic responses to the industrial landscape by Turner and other artists, including Tacita Dean, Chris Killip and L.S. Lowry. It is much loved (it was voted Britain’s favourite painting in a 2005 BBC poll), and has never been displayed in the North East before.” 💬 Lizzie Jacklin, Keeper of Art at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.
Renoir in Leicester at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
“We were asked by the National Gallery to deliver something out of the ordinary. To do this we decided that The Umbrellas would be displayed as a sole work in an intimate gallery setting, primarily interpreted through a colourful animation using motion and music to bring the artwork to life. Created by award winning Leicester-based animation studio Kino Bino, Lost Among the Umbrellas helps visitors to better understand and appreciate the artwork in a new light.” 💬 Mark A. Simmons, Audience Development and Engagement Manager, Leicester Museums & Galleries
Constable in Bristol “Truth to Nature” at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
“The National Gallery is loaning us The Hay Wain by John Constable. With Constable in Bristol: “Truth to Nature”, we are aiming to use this icon of the English landscape as a starting point to examine the meaning of landscape art during Constable’s time and how artists today are working with landscape. We’re asking, is the idyll sustainable culturally, ethically and artistically?” 💬 Julia Carver, Curator at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Artemisia in Birmingham | Jesse Jones: Mirror Martyr Mirror Moon at Ikon, Birmingham
“Ikon is presenting Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria. It is a great privilege to host the work of a celebrated woman artist of the seventeenth century, whose self-portraiture offers a precedent for contemporary art practice. Vital to our display is the work of contemporary Irish artist Jesse Jones, who brings her distinctive, immersive and multi-media interpretation to Gentileschi’s self-portraiture. Through film, sound, performance, sculpture and installation, Jones brings a contemporary lens to Gentileschi’s work.” 💬 Linzi Stauvers, Artistic Director (Education) at Ikon
What does it mean for your institution to be part of the National Treasures series?
Caravaggio in Belfast at the Ulster Museum, Belfast
“It’s a proud moment for us. As the sole institution in Northern Ireland involved in the National Treasures project, it signifies an important cultural partnership, strengthening east/west and north/south connections through valuable collaboration across borders. Providing free access to the two Caravaggio paintings also highlights our commitment to inclusivity and accessibility in the arts.” 💬 Hannah Crowdy, Head Of Curatorial for National Museums NI
Rembrandt in Brighton at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
“We’re really excited to show Rembrandt’s Self Portrait at the Age of 34. Brighton & Hove is a city full of artists, creatives, performers and individuals who think about the way that they portray themselves in their creative practice and their everyday lives. We hope that people will look in a new way at these pictures, and other portraits in the Museum and think about the stories that they would like to tell about themselves.” 💬 Helen Grundy, Head of Exhibitions and Programmes, Brighton Museums
Vermeer in Edinburgh at National, Edinburgh
“This is the first time A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, a celebrated late work by Vermeer, will be on public display in Scotland, which is very special and exciting. At the same time, the juxtaposition with the National Galleries of Scotland’s Vermeer demonstrates how the artist started: Christ in the House of Mary and Martha is one of the earliest and his largest work, and the only one featuring a biblical subject. Visitors can explore Vermeer’s journey from the ambitious young painter of history paintings to the serene works depicting scenes of everyday life (if not everybody’s life!) that became the hallmark of his fame in our time.” 💬 Dr Tico Seifert, Senior Curator (Northern European Art) at the National Galleries of Scotland
Velázquez in Liverpool at the Walker Art Gallery
“This is the first time The Rokeby Venus will be in Liverpool since 1906, and it’s so exciting to welcome her back! This is a phenomenal opportunity for the city to see something that seldom travels. We’ve got such a great collection of historical paintings, meaning the painting will fit within our wider gallery space as well as being the star of this temporary display. The National Treasures series is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the nation and for us in Liverpool to see these works in our cities, outside the capital.” 💬 Melissa Gustin and Kate O’Donoghue, curators, National Museums Liverpool
How many visitors are you expecting and what other successes do you hope it generates?
Caravaggio in Belfast at the Ulster Museum, Belfast
“We anticipate an attendance of approximately 40,000 to 50,000 visitors. Beyond the numbers, however, what this exhibition offers is a unique opportunity for local audiences to experience artistic excellence – the whole bicentenary campaign is designed around being an hour away from a National Gallery masterpiece and, unique to Belfast, we’re giving audiences two masterpieces! The exhibition would not have become a reality were it not for the generosity and support of our colleagues in London and Dublin, highlighting the vital role it is playing in fostering strong partnerships across the UK and Ireland.” 💬 Hannah Crowdy, Head Of Curatorial for National Museums NI
Vermeer in Edinburgh at National, Edinburgh
“We expect about 100,000 visitors to come and see Vermeer in Edinburgh this summer. Vermeer is one of the most famous artists of all time and we hope that displaying not just one but two of his paintings will create an extra buzz at the National.” 💬 Dr Tico Seifert, Senior Curator (Northern European Art) at the National Galleries of Scotland
Botticelli in Cambridge at the Fitzwilliam Museum
“While we don’t have visitor projections for displays, we anticipate that the rare loan of this special work from the National Gallery for the first time since it was acquired 150 years ago will attract visitors from Cambridge and beyond. We hope the display will make these historic works exciting for a wider audience than perhaps they normally reach and will invite new readings and perspectives. We would like visitors to stop, pause, to look, to learn and to immerse themselves in the works.” 💬 Kate Noble, co-curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum
The National Gallery’s National Treasures is supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies
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