National Gallery Scores £375M Boost for Stunning New Art Wing!

The National Gallery, located on the north side of Trafalgar Square in central London, is one of the city's most popular attractions. Recently, the gallery announced plans to expand its space after receiving an incredible £375 million in donations from private donors. This amount includes what the gallery describes as the two largest single cash donations ever publicly reported to a museum or gallery anywhere in the world. With this funding, the National Gallery has launched an international competition to find architects who will design a new wing for its growing collection.

The new wing will be built on the last available part of the gallery's campus and is intended to revitalize the area between Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. The goal is to create a vibrant and fresh experience for visitors, making the gallery even more attractive to both locals and tourists. The National Gallery is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2024, and the expansion is seen as a way to mark this milestone and look forward to the future. Inside the gallery, visitors can admire rooms filled with oil paintings, elegant green wallpaper, and benches for viewing the art. The gallery is known for its impressive collection, which includes masterpieces like 'Bathers at Asnières' by Georges Seurat.

Of the £375 million pledged, £150 million comes from Crankstart, the charitable foundation of Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman. Another £150 million is from the Julia Rausing Trust. Sir Hans Rausing, the founder trustee, explained that his late wife Julia was a passionate supporter of the National Gallery and believed in making great art accessible to everyone. He said that this donation is given in her memory, hoping that others will find the same inspiration in art that Julia did. The remaining £75 million comes from the National Gallery Trust, the gallery's chairman of trustees John Booth, and other donors who wish to remain anonymous.

This funding will not only help expand the gallery's historic collection but also start new collaborations with Tate and other museums in the UK and around the world. The National Gallery was founded by Parliament in 1824 and offers free entry to the public. Its collection features paintings from the late 13th to the early 20th century, including works by famous artists such as Cezanne, Degas, Da Vinci, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh, and Velázquez. The gallery's director, Sir Gabriele Finaldi, expressed his excitement about these developments and gratitude to the donors for their unprecedented support. He said that after celebrating its bicentenary, the National Gallery is looking to the future and wants to be the place where people from the UK and around the world can enjoy the finest paintings in a stunning architectural setting.