The National Gallery will celebrate 200 years of art with nationwide exhibitions

National Gallery's National Treasures exhibitions to showcase masterpieces across the UK in bicentenary celebration.

Image: The National Gallery, London © The National Gallery, London.

The National Gallery, in anticipation of its Bicentenary year, has unveiled a program called National Treasures in collaboration with 12 museums and galleries across the UK. Each of these institutions will receive a treasured painting from the National Gallery's collection and curate exhibitions and events around them. The program, supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation and other donors, will also offer digital content on Bloomberg Connects to enhance the experience. For instance, the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle will showcase Turner's The Fighting Temeraire, focusing on themes of industry and nostalgia, while York Art Gallery will feature Monet's The Water Lily Pond, exploring the development of Monet's work and French open-air painting.

Renoir's Umbrellas will take centre stage at the Leicester Museum and Gallery, offering a unique experience with a digital installation that brings the artwork to life through sound and animation. The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge will exhibit Botticelli's Venus and Mars alongside Italian Renaissance works, encouraging visitors to ponder themes of nudity, clothing, and gender. Various other museums, such as Brighton Museum and Art Gallery and Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, will also host exciting exhibitions and projects that engage with renowned artworks from the National Gallery's collection.

In addition to the museum exhibitions, the National Gallery is launching the Art Road Trip, a mobile art studio program, which will travel across the UK, collaborating with local arts organisations and communities to make art and ideas inspired by the National Gallery collection more accessible. The institution has also revealed a match funding commitment to further its fundraising efforts, with donations doubled up to £3 million. The Director of the National Gallery, Gabriele Finaldi, expressed excitement about this initiative, emphasising the aim of bringing art and people together as the gallery enters its third century of operation. This ambitious program promises to make a significant cultural impact across the UK, offering access to world-class art to a broad and diverse audience.