[71], The National Gallery was sponsored by the Italian arms manufacturer Finmeccanica between October 2011 and October 2012. [10] The twenty-five paintings from that collection now in the Gallery, including "NG1", arrived later by a variety of routes. [21] The Gallery was even less well equipped for its next major bequest, as J.M.W. The current Director of the National Gallery is Gabriele Finaldi. [39] In 1941 a request from an artist to see Rembrandt's Portrait of Margaretha de Geer (a new acquisition) resulted in the "Picture of the Month" scheme, in which a single painting was removed from Manod and exhibited to the general public in the National Gallery each month. [58], The Barry Rooms (1872–1876), designed by E. M. Barry, The dome of Room 34, the central octagon of the Barry Rooms. The first 20 of these were displayed off-site in Marlborough House in 1856. [25] In 1897 the formation of the National Gallery of British Art, known unofficially from early in its history as the Tate Gallery, allowed some British works to be moved off-site, following the precedent set by the Vernon collection and the Turner Bequest. [52] What does Holman Hunt’s painting, 'The Scapegoat', mean to us today? Its sale was controversial in the U.S.[73] The Gallery was found in 2018 to be one of the first London public galleries to charge more than £20 for admission to a special exhibition of works by Claude Monet. No timetable has been announced for these additional projects. The Gallery's detractors accused it of having had an over-zealous approach to restoration. The director role was created in 1855, 31 years after the Gallery's founding. Angerstein's paintings were joined in 1826 by those from Beaumont's collection, and in 1831 by the Reverend William Holwell Carr's bequest of 35 paintings. The Nation's Gallery We are temporarily closed until 2 December 2020. Jaschik, Scott (12 February 2014). The National Gallery at Pall Mall was frequently overcrowded and hot and its diminutive size in comparison with the Louvre in Paris was a cause of national embarrassment. In the post-war years, acquisitions have become increasingly difficult for the National Gallery as the prices for Old Masters – and even more so for the Impressionists and Post-impressionists – have risen beyond its means. Their first acquisition for the National Gallery was Velázquez's Rokeby Venus in 1906, followed by Holbein's Portrait of Christina of Denmark in 1909. A plan to acquire 150 paintings from the Orléans collection, which had been brought to London for sale in 1798, also failed, despite the interest of both the King and the Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger. The piano nobile and ground floor of Wilkins's building, before expansion. [30] Lane died on board the RMS Lusitania in 1915, and a dispute began which was not resolved until 1959. The Gallery's lack of space remained acute in this period. [26] This prompted the foundation of the National Art Collections Fund, a society of subscribers dedicated to stemming the flow of artworks to the United States. The core collection includes major works of art donated by Paul Mellon, Ailsa Mel… However, despite the crisis in aristocratic fortunes, the following decade was one of several great bequests from private collectors. WC2N 5DN, Online or in Gallery – Members enjoy more. Also, the decorative programme of the rooms did not take their intended contents into account; the ceiling of the 15th- and 16th-century Italian gallery, for instance, was inscribed with the names of British artists of the 19th century. Robertson, David (2004). The scheme was a failure and contemporary critics denounced the exterior as "a strong plagiarism upon St Paul's Cathedral".[56]. The northernmost galleries align with Barry's central axis, so that there is a single vista down the whole length of the Gallery. These had to incorporate columns from the demolished Carlton House and their relative shortness result in an elevation that was deemed excessively low, and a far cry from the commanding focal point that was desired for the northern end of the Square.