A Bicentenary of Art, The National Gallery, London at 200
The National Gallery in London is celebrating its 200th anniversary with a year-long event which started in May 2024. Founded in 1824 with only 38 paintings, it has become a world-renowned art institution. The gallery’s collection includes over 2,300 works by famous artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Monet, spanning nearly a millennium of art history. Throughout its 200-year history, the National Gallery in London has been a cultural landmark and a source of political discussion and controversy.
The bicentennial celebration, known as the NG200 project, is a comprehensive initiative supported by a £95 million investment. The project will include special exhibitions and events across the UK and significant upgrades to the gallery itself. Among these are the renovation of the Sainsbury Wing and the creation of a new state-of-the-art research center focused on studying ancient paintings. The NG200 festivities will also involve community engagement, such as the “Art Road Trip,” which will bring mobile art studios to 200 communities across the UK, ensuring that art reaches every corner of the nation.
Throughout the history of the museum though there have been key moments that have shaped the museum in many ways and also were pop cultural moments that defined that era. Between the dates of 10th to 12th May 2024, a specially commissioned history of the museum was projected onto its facade. The show features the voices of curators, art lovers, and actor Michael Palin. Coming to a few of the pivotal pop cultural moments that occurred around the museum was when In 1914, suffragist Mary Richardson entered the National Gallery and slashed Diego Velázquez’s painting, “The Toilet of Venus,” to protest the arrest of a fellow activist. During World War II, the gallery hid its masterpieces in Welsh mines for protection, leaving a rotating “picture of the month” to provide cultural relief for London during the war.
Founding Days
According to Caiger-Smith, the National Gallery was founded in response to Europe’s emerging idea of nationhood in the early nineteenth century. This nationalism grew in the United Kingdom as industrialization and urbanization progressed. The gallery’s educational goals were driven by “top-down” philanthropy, which aimed to make great art more accessible to the general public while also addressing growing economic and social imbalances.
Shift to Trafalgar’s Square
Angerstein’s townhouse was smaller than other national museums like as the Louvre, therefore Parliament provided funding for the National Gallery’s new structure. Trafalgar Square’s Neoclassical architecture first opened in 1838. Its placement between the rich West End and the impoverished East End highlighted the gallery’s public accessibility. The gallery’s visibility has been enhanced by its location and symbolism. Trafalgar Square, a prominent gathering location for London Pride and protests, has added to the gallery’s relevance. Its position in this famous location highlights its status as a national treasure and a cultural hub open to all.
Happenings around Art and the Collection of the Gallery
The collection of paintings was relocated out of London and placed in various residences to ensure their safety during the Blitz. Eventually, the gallery located itself in a slate mine in Wales, in a safe place. The artworks were kept there from 1941 to 1945 since the conditions were perfect.Despite this evacuation of much of its art during World War II, the National Gallery continued to serve the public through its “Picture of the Month” program and lunchtime performances. The gallery also featured shows by modern war painters. Annual visitation was over six million before the pandemic but fell dramatically in 2022 before rebounding to three million in 2023. The National Gallery’s collections and categorisations have evolved. In 1996, it agreed with the Tate Modern to concentrate on paintings created before 1900, while Tate would house modern and contemporary pieces.
The Collection of The Gallery
While we now know that the initial collection came from the collector John Julius Angerstein. Along with Dutch, Flemish, and English paintings, the collection featured Italian pieces like as the massive altarpiece The Raising of Lazarus by Sebastiano del Piombo. The collection of landscape painter Sir George Beaumont was made available to the public in 1823 and was on exhibit in Pall Mall with Angerstein’s paintings until 1838.
In its early years, the National Gallery lacked a structured approach to building its collection, with acquisitions driven by the personal tastes of the Trustees. This led to criticism in the 1850s, particularly for the gallery’s oversight of early Italian art. However, after administrative reforms in 1855, Sir Charles Eastlake took on the role of Director. He embarked on extensive travels across Europe, strategically acquiring works that would elevate the gallery’s reputation. During his decade-long leadership, Eastlake enriched the gallery’s collection of Italian masterpieces, including significant works like Botticelli’s Adoration of the Kings and Uccello’s The Battle of San Romano, solidifying its status as a premier institution for Italian art.
More than 1,000 Turner pieces were bequeathed to the National Gallery in the subsequent years. These were on display at South Kensington next to the Vernon collection because of space constraints. Henry Tate donated money and his collection to establish a distinct gallery specializing in British art in 1889. After negotiations, the Tate Gallery opened at Millbank in 1897, removing most of the British artworks from the National Gallery. The Tate was first managed by the National Gallery before becoming autonomous in 1955.
Protesters, Vandalism, and Other Acts
Activists protesting a variety of concerns have often turned their attention to the National Gallery’s collection. Kempton Bunton stole a Francisco Goya portrait in 1961 as a protest against television licensing fees. Following this, the Gallery employed a guard dog named Rex to patrol the galleries. The guard dog patrol continued until 1971 when it was deemed no longer necessary. While Casper Netscher’s little dog might not have been suitable for patrol duty, it is one of the charming dogs featured in the gallery’s collection.
In 1987, Robert Cambridge shot at a Leonardo da Vinci painting to demonstrate his displeasure with British conditions. Recently, Just Stop Oil activists targeted Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Constable’s The Hay Wain in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The gallery’s work has become a high-profile target due to its national and international notoriety. Apart from these well-known instances, the National In 1900, there were army barracks behind the National Gallery. Soldiers played football there, and the Office of Works suggested covering the gallery’s windows with wire to allow them to continue.
The gallery has also seen additional vandalism episodes. In 2018, a visitor hurled a rock at Claude Monet’s painting, inflicting minor damage. In 2019, a man used a marker to draw on a J.M.W. Turner artwork. These instances show the problems museums have in conserving their exhibits while also assuring public safety.
Speaking about the vast changes within the gallery and its outreach in the past 200 years, the director says “Public ownership and access to world-class paintings and art is just as vitally important now for a thriving civic society as it was in 1824, and these fundamental principles of excellence and access are still what guides us today”, in an interview with Smithsonian Magazine. This year, to mark the anniversary, the gallery has a lot of new and exciting events planned that span throughout the 365 days. The gallery will host contemporary performance art by Jeremy Deller, expand online access to its collections, create educational programs, and present exhibitions on Van Gogh and Sienese paintings. In 2025, the gallery will conclude these initiatives with a major rehang of its permanent collection.
Courtesy: Just Stop Oil/editioncnn.com
The director further adds, “We continue to seek new ways to bring the experience of seeing and understanding great paintings to as many people as possible, through digital channels and also through an intense engagement with contemporary artists.” in an interview given to the Smithsonian Magazine.
References
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/history/collection-history
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/stories/did-you-know
https://www.elledecor.com/it/best-of/a60879278/200-years-of-art-and-culture-national-gallery-london
