The National Galleryannounces the partner venues taking part in National Treasures, 12 displays of loaned paintings all opening on 10 May 2024, the 200th birthday of the National Gallery.
National Treasures is a key strand of the programme celebrating the Gallerys Bicentenary. Each partner venue will receive a masterpiece from the Gallerys collection and will curate around it, involving interpretation, community engagement and events, or exhibitions. For the duration of the displays, 35 million people – more than half the UK population – will be within an hours journey of a National Gallery masterpiece.
The partners and the paintings they are receiving are:
- Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,The Wilton Diptych(about 1395‒9)
- Brighton Museum and Art Gallery,Self Portrait at the Age of 34(1640), Rembrandt(1606‒1669)
- Bristol Museum and Art Gallery,The Hay Wain(1821), John Constable(1776‒1837)
- The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge,Venus and Mars(about 1485), Sandro Botticelli(about 1445-1510)
- Ikon Gallery, Birmingham,Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria(about 1615‒17), Artemisia Gentileschi(1593‒1654 or later)
- Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle,The Fighting Temeraire(1839), Joseph Mallord William Turner(1775-1851)
- Leicester Museum and Art Gallery,The Umbrellas(about 1881‒6),Pierre-Auguste Renoir(1841‒1919)
- The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth,The Stonemasons Yard(about 1725), Canaletto(1697‒1768)
- Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh,A Young Woman standing at a Virginal(about 1670‒2),Johannes Vermeer(1632‒1675)
- Ulster Museum, Belfast,The Supper at Emmaus(1601),Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio(1571‒1610)
- Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool,The Rokeby Venus(1647‒51),Diego Velzquez(1599‒1660)
- York Art Gallery,The Water-Lily Pond(1899), Claude Monet(1840‒1926)
Two works The Wilton Diptychand BotticellisVenus and Mars will be leaving the National Gallerys collection for the first time since their acquisitions, in 1929 and 1874 respectively. The partner venues are currently developing plans to curate exhibitions, events, and digital interventions to showcase their works. Some are exploring the industries represented in the paintings and how they link to their own histories and communities; others are using the display opportunity to bring new audiences to their local cultural hubs. The paintings will be loaned for between two and four months, with the final displays concluding on 10 September 2024.
The opening of National Treasures around the UK kickstarts a year of Bicentenary celebrations, where three strands of activities showcase the Gallery across the nation; to the community in Trafalgar Square; and to virtual visitors around the world. The ambitious programme showcases the breadth of skill and creativity in the UK cultural sector and is just as much about looking ahead to the next 200 years in the Gallerys future as it is about celebrating its past. Concluding the celebrations in May 2025 will be the opening of the new Sainsbury Wing developments in Trafalgar Square.
Christine Riding, Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department, says, We thought carefully about where to send these most iconic and well-loved paintings in our collection. As well as being able to look after these works to an extremely high standard, we approached our partners for National Treasures because of their exciting ideas and brilliant reputations within their community. We are very excited to see the interpretation and audiences that our partners will bring to these most treasured paintings.
Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says, In our Bicentenary year, we want to reaffirm our role as the nations gallery. Our collection belongs to the UK public and were very pleased to work with such an exciting range of partner venues to help realise this. These exhibitions provide a unique opportunity for people all over the country to see up close some of the greatest works from the history of Western art and we hope that many visitors will discover their local museums and be inspired to visit us in Trafalgar Square to see even more of our collection.
Arts and Heritage Minister, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, says, Everyone should have access to our countrys great treasures, no matter where they live. Im delighted that these masterpieces will be going on display in galleries across the nation so more people can enjoy and be inspired by the National Gallerys world-class collections.
Notes
From 6 February 2023, prints of all the paintings going on tour as part of National Treasures are available to buy from a dedicated section in our online shop. Visitshop.nationalgallery.org.uk
The National Galleryis one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Founded by Parliament in 1824, the Gallery houses the nations collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to the early 20th century. The collection includes works by Bellini, Czanne, Degas, Leonardo, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh and Velzquez. The Gallerys key objectives are to enhance the collection, care for the collection and provide the best possible access to visitors. Admission free. More atnationalgallery.org.uk
