The acquisition is the third as part of its 200th anniversary celebrations and goes on display today.
The National Gallery has acquired a painting by British Dutch-born painter Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema ‘After the Audience’, the third acquisition marking its 200th anniversary year.
The painting, which cost £2m, was paid for via legacies from Mrs Martha Doris Bailey and Mr Richard Hillman Bailey, Miss Gillian Cleaver, and Ms Sheila Mary Holmes, with the support of the National Gallery Trust.
The National Gallery described the 1879 work as “striking in terms of scale, subject and ambition, particularly among the artist’s earliest work, executed in the UK”.
It is the only work by the artist in the National Gallery’s collection and goes on display in Room 45 today (Thursday 15 August 2024.)
After the Audience was acquired from a private collection in negotiations brokered by Christie’s Private Sales. Its acquisition follows that of Poussin’s Eucharist and The Full-length Mirror by Eva Gonzalès.
Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, said: ‘We continue to celebrate our 200th anniversary with our third acquisition this year.
“We are grateful to the legacies of Martha Doris Bailey and Richard Hillman Bailey, Gillian Cleaver, and Sheila Mary Holmes, with the support of the National Gallery Trust, for enabling us to buy this outstanding picture.’
