Alistair Hardaker
Image: National Gallery drone shot © The National Gallery, London
The gallery has also announced that it will work in closer partnership with Tate to “further the national collection as a whole.”
The National Gallery has revealed plans and record-breaking funding for a new wing to house an expanded collection.
Already, £375m of cash pledges have been secured, made up of the two largest ever publicly reported single cash donations to a museum or gallery globally.
‘Project Domani’ will see it launch an international architectural competition for its brand-new wing, moving to extend its historic collection, and collaboration with Tate and other museums in the UK and abroad.
Funding includes £150m from Crankstart, the charitable foundation of Sir Michael Moritz KBE and his wife, Harriet Heyman. A further £150m is coming from the Julia Rausing Trust. The National Gallery says these are the two largest ever publicly reported single cash donations to a museum or gallery globally.
A further £75 million is coming from the National Gallery Trust, National Gallery Chairman of Trustees John Booth, plus other donors who wish to remain anonymous.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the new wing at the National Gallery “will open up world class art for millions of people from home and abroad.”
The new wing of the National Gallery
The architectural competition for the new wing launches tomorrow, and is the third stage of its masterplan commissioned by the Gallery in 2018.
The wing will be built on the site of the last remaining part of the National Gallery’s current campus: St Vincent House. The property was acquired nearly 30 years ago, for the purpose of expanding gallery space, and currently houses a hotel and office complex.
The transformation project will include the area between Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, and will be a “landmark of both local and international significance, enriching the nation’s artistic presence on a global scale.”
‘Historic partnership’ with Tate
The National Gallery said it is seeking to broaden and extend the range of its collection, displays and exhibitions as part of the project, with “an exciting opportunity to collaborate with our colleagues at Tate as joint custodians of the National Collection”.
Sir Gabriele Finaldi, director of The National Gallery said the project will include “an ever-closer collaboration with Tate on this significant new initiative.”
The Trustees of the National Gallery and Tate recently held a joint meeting to develop new ways of working together more closely. It developed a Working Group with Trustee and Curatorial representatives from each institution to determine the ways in which they can collaborate to “further the national collection as a whole.”
A new, “historic partnership” is underway that sees the National Gallery and Tate working together to “build and further develop the UK’s world-leading National Collection for the benefit of everyone.”
Maria Balshaw, Tate’s director said it will “[work] closely with colleagues at the National Gallery on loans, curatorial and conservational expertise to support the development of their new displays.
