National Gallery

National Gallery The story of European art, masterpiece by masterpiece. We collect and care for the nation’s paintings and we share them with the world.
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24/01/2025

How was Poussin inspired by other artists? 🎨

Manet’s only formal pupil 🎨Edouard Manet was born   in 1832. He painted this life-sized portrait of Eva Gonzalès, his on...
23/01/2025

Manet’s only formal pupil 🎨

Edouard Manet was born in 1832. He painted this life-sized portrait of Eva Gonzalès, his only formal pupil, in 1870. Eva Gonzalès was a successful artist in her own right and a regular exhibitor at the Salon.

Manet had painted other artists (both men and women), but this portrait is unusual in that it shows Gonzalès painting at her easel. The work on the easel, already finished and framed, is a copy after an etching by the flower painter Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer. A half-rolled print carrying Manet’s signature lies on the floor, a reminder of his role as her teacher. Her pose, along with the white dress and the fluidity of the brushstrokes with which it is painted, recall 18th-century self portraits by women. In these they show themselves at their easels, dressed in beautiful, often white gowns, which attest to their success: https://bit.ly/2XCKv7L

A fascinating thread of collectors, patrons, artists, and art lovers 🎨Since our foundation, our collection has grown tha...
22/01/2025

A fascinating thread of collectors, patrons, artists, and art lovers 🎨

Since our foundation, our collection has grown thanks to the generosity of our supporters. But how do works by celebrated artists like John Constable come to join our collection?

Trace the journey of one of Constable's most celebrated works, ‘Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds’, from a sketch made in the grounds of benefactor Sir George Beaumont to a centrepiece in the Gallery’s 'Discover Constable & The Hay Wain' exhibition, as we reveal an entangled history of legacies, family and friendship.

Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3PJmYdV

22/01/2025

Céline Condorelli wants you to experience art differently 👀

You can see Condorelli's work, 'Bulk: Everlasting Colour, on display at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum until 30 March: https://bit.ly/3PIaJyt

In an interplay of light and darkness, Joseph Wright of Derby conjures sublime pictures of discovery and learning ✨Our u...
21/01/2025

In an interplay of light and darkness, Joseph Wright of Derby conjures sublime pictures of discovery and learning ✨

Our upcoming exhibition, 'Wright of Derby: From the Shadows', is the first major exhibition dedicated to the British artist’s ‘candlelight’ paintings. We celebrate and look again at his most admired works.

With over twenty works, including other paintings, mezzotints, works on paper and objects, the exhibition explores both Wright of Derby’s artistic practice and the historic context of scientific and artistic development in which they were made. Watch, along with the people he paints, as his scenes of spectacle and wonder unfold: https://bit.ly/4gZ4r9N

7 November 2025 – 10 May 2026

20/01/2025

How have these paintings changed over time, and why? 🤔

This Ed explores why there are so many grey skies in the Gallery.

19/01/2025

The painting that became the pinnacle of Cezanne's career ✨

Can you guess the  ? 🦋The painter of this spectacular floral display was born   in 1573. It was probably made to impress...
18/01/2025

Can you guess the ? 🦋

The painter of this spectacular floral display was born in 1573. It was probably made to impress one of the wealthy burghers of Middelburg, the prosperous town where the artist lived.

Find out the answer here: https://bit.ly/2K9TQNa

17/01/2025

The astonishing stories of working at the National Gallery in the 1960s 😮

16/01/2025

Why is Poussin known as the ‘painter’s painter’? 🎨

15/01/2025

If you could jump into one Van Gogh painting, which would it be? 🌻

Just another floral still life, or a famous album cover? 👀Ignace-Henri-Théodore Fantin-Latour was born   in 1836. Most c...
14/01/2025

Just another floral still life, or a famous album cover? 👀

Ignace-Henri-Théodore Fantin-Latour was born in 1836. Most celebrated for his floral still lifes, Fantin-Latour drew his blooms from life during the summer months, rather than making sketches of a particular specimen when in bloom to incorporate a picture later on, a technique used by the 17th-century Dutch painters that Fantin-Latour admired.

'A Basket of Roses' was painted in 1890 and rose to prominence again in 1983 when the band New Order featured the painting on their second studio album, 'Power, Corruption & Lies'.

Discover other examples of where our paintings have appeared in pop culture: https://bit.ly/40vJ8GN

14/01/2025

Who are the women in Berthe Morisot's 'Summer's Day'? 🤔

  that when early 19th-century visitors saw Constable’s 'The Hay Wain' some found his truthful vision of the Suffolk lan...
13/01/2025

that when early 19th-century visitors saw Constable’s 'The Hay Wain' some found his truthful vision of the Suffolk landscape to be quite radical...👀

Today, over 200 years later, the painting is considered a traditional image of the English countryside. This status has led artists and activists to reinterpret, edit, and react to the painting. Our free exhibition ‘Discover Constable & The Hay Wain’ takes a journey through England’s landscape at the turn of the 19th century and brings together works by artists Constable himself admired and images made by artists in response to his own painting.

Find out more here: https://bit.ly/40geU9C

Hats off to John Singer Sargent 🎩John Singer Sargent was born   in 1856. His full-length portrait of Thomas Lister, who ...
12/01/2025

Hats off to John Singer Sargent 🎩

John Singer Sargent was born in 1856. His full-length portrait of Thomas Lister, who became Lord Ribblesdale in 1876, was not a commission but was instigated by Sargent himself after he had seen Lord Ribblesdale give a speech.

With one hand on his hip, Lord Ribblesdale's pose is casual yet confident, with just a hint of swagger. His top hat, set at a slight angle, also introduces a note of rakishness. Sargent has deliberately elongated Ribblesdale’s tall, lean body, its vertical line reinforced by the perpendicular of the fluted pilaster behind him. A lord-in-waiting at court, Ribblesdale was also a trustee of both the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery: https://bit.ly/427H0Gu

The most successful female artist of her generation 🎨Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera was born   in 1673. One of the mos...
12/01/2025

The most successful female artist of her generation 🎨

Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera was born in 1673. One of the most celebrated pastellist of the 18th century, her pastel portraits became an important souvenir to international clientele visiting on their Grand Tours of Europe. She used pastel crayons on paper to create soft, luminous portraits that have a luxurious appearance.

The sitter in this portrait is unknown. He looks back at us with a self-assured stare. His rosy lips, soft eyes and pale, youthful complexion are framed by a curly white wig that falls down his back. It is held in place with a neat black ribbon, as was fashionable for wealthy gentleman of the time: https://bit.ly/3cStHxu

Parmigianino, one of the most visionary artists of the Renaissance, was born   in 1503. Our latest free exhibition 'Parm...
11/01/2025

Parmigianino, one of the most visionary artists of the Renaissance, was born in 1503.

Our latest free exhibition 'Parmigianino: The Vision of Saint Jerome' brings the artist's magnificent painting back to public display for the first time in 10 years following conservation.

Find the painting reunited for the first time alongside the velvety chalk studies and swirling pen and ink sketches that Parmigianino created before deciding on his final composition. Join us for this rare opportunity to encounter Parmigianino’s dynamic creative process: https://bit.ly/3vFJWMc

Discover the extraordinary and sometimes surprising stories of the National Gallery ✨This weekend is your last chance to...
10/01/2025

Discover the extraordinary and sometimes surprising stories of the National Gallery ✨

This weekend is your last chance to see our free interactive exhibition 'NG Stories: Making a National Gallery'. From a resident family of 14 and an intrepid travelling agent to ground-breaking scientists and a wartime pianist, 'NG Stories' tells the history of the Gallery through magical soundscapes and immersive digital interactions.

This experience, both online and in-person, uses digital technology to tell you the unexpected human stories which have shaped the past and present of our 200-year history. Find out more: https://bit.ly/3BtXI7M

Do you have a special memory about the National Gallery? Share them with us and it could be featured in our new Sainsbury Wing when it reopens: https://bit.ly/4aUd4za

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