Editing National Gallery (section)

==History==

===The call for a National Gallery===
[[File:Sebastiano del Piombo, The Raising of Lazarus.jpg|alt=Realistic painting of a robed figure, arms extended, standing outside on a small platform among people doing various things such as talking to each other, but most of whom are looking at him.|thumb|upright|''[[The Raising of Lazarus (Sebastiano del Piombo)|The Raising of Lazarus]]'' by [[Sebastiano del Piombo]], from the [[Angerstein collection]]. This became the founding collection of the National Gallery in 1824. The painting has the [[accession number (library science)|accession number]] NG1, making it officially the first painting to enter the gallery.]]

The late 18th century saw the [[nationalisation]] of royal or princely art collections across mainland Europe. The Bavarian royal collection (now in the [[Alte Pinakothek]], Munich) opened to the public in 1779, that of the [[House of Medici|Medici]] in [[Florence]] around 1789 (as the [[Uffizi]] Gallery), and the Museum Français at the [[Louvre]] was formed out of the former French royal collection in 1793.{{sfn|Taylor|1999|pp=29–30}} [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], however, did not follow other European countries, and the British [[Royal Collection]] still remains in the sovereign's possession. In 1777, the British government had the opportunity to buy an art collection of international stature, when the descendants of Sir [[Robert Walpole]] put [[Walpole collection|his collection]] up for sale. The MP [[John Wilkes]] argued for the government to buy this "invaluable treasure" and suggested that it be housed in "a noble gallery... to be built in the spacious garden of the British Museum".<ref>{{cite news|first=Andrew |last=Moore |title=Sir Robert Walpole's pictures in Russia |work=Magazine Antiques |date=2 October 1996 |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_n4_v150/ai_18850830/pg_2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016151632/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_n4_v150/ai_18850830/pg_2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 October 2007 |access-date=14 October 2007}}</ref> Nothing came of Wilkes's appeal and 20 years later the collection was bought in its entirety by [[Catherine the Great]]; it is now to be found in the [[State Hermitage Museum]] in [[Saint Petersburg]].

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, [[William Pitt the Younger|Pitt the Younger]].{{sfn|Penny|2008|p=466}} The twenty-five paintings from that collection now in the gallery, including "NG1", arrived later by a variety of routes. In 1799, the dealer [[Noël Desenfans]] offered a ready-made national collection to the British government; he and his partner Sir [[Francis Bourgeois]] had assembled it for the king of [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland]], before the [[Third Partition of Poland|Third Partition]] in 1795 abolished Polish independence.{{sfn|Taylor|1999|pp=29–30}} This offer was declined and Bourgeois bequeathed the collection to his old school, [[Dulwich College]], on his death. The collection opened in 1814 in Britain's first purpose-built public gallery, the [[Dulwich Picture Gallery]]. The Scottish dealer William Buchanan and the collector Joseph Count Truchsess both formed art collections expressly as the basis for a future national collection, but their respective offers (both made in 1803) were also declined.{{sfn|Taylor|1999|pp=29–30}}

Following the Walpole sale many artists, including [[James Barry (painter)|James Barry]] and [[John Flaxman]], had made renewed calls for the establishment of a National Gallery, arguing that a British school of painting could only flourish if it had access to the canon of European painting. The [[British Institution]], founded in 1805 by a group of aristocratic connoisseurs, attempted to address this situation. The members lent works to exhibitions that changed annually, while an art school was held in the summer months. However, as the paintings that were lent were often mediocre,<ref>Fullerton, Peter (1979). ''Some aspects of the early years of the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom 1805–1825''. MA dissertation, Courtauld Institute of Art., p. 37</ref> some artists resented the Institution and saw it as a racket for the gentry to increase the sale prices of their [[Old Master]] paintings.{{sfn|Conlin|2006|p=45}} One of the Institution's founding members, Sir [[Sir George Beaumont, 7th Baronet|George Beaumont, Bt]], would eventually play a major role in the National Gallery's foundation by offering a gift of 16 paintings.

In 1823, another major art collection came on the market, which had been assembled by the recently deceased [[John Julius Angerstein]]. Angerstein was a Russian-born émigré banker based in London; his collection numbered 38 paintings, including works by [[Raphael]] and [[William Hogarth|Hogarth]]'s ''[[Marriage A-la-Mode (Hogarth)|Marriage A-la-Mode]]'' series. On 1 July 1823, [[George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover|George Agar-Ellis]], a [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] politician, proposed to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] that it purchase the collection.{{sfn|Conlin|2006|p=51}} The appeal was given added impetus by Beaumont's offer, which came with two conditions: that the government buy the [[Angerstein collection]], and that a suitable building was to be found. The unexpected repayment of a war debt by [[Austrian Empire|Austria]] finally moved the government to buy Angerstein's collection, for £57,000.

===Foundation and early history===
[[File:National Gallery at 100 Pall Mall.jpg|alt=Engraving of a three-storey building, seen from the street. Women in long dresses date the picture.|thumb|left|upright|100 [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], the home of the National Gallery from 1824 to 1834]]

The National Gallery opened in 1824 in Angerstein's former townhouse at No. 100 [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]].{{NoteTag|The opening date is said to have been 10 May 1824, but there is a record of a visit by Agar-Ellis on 5 May during which he met the Keeper, William Seguier, who remarked that opening the gallery to the public free of charge had already proved to be a success, "and that all the people are very orderly and well-behaved". {{Harv|Smith|2009|p=27}}}} 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.{{sfn|Crookham|2009|p=43}} Initially the Keeper of Paintings, [[William Seguier]], bore the burden of managing the gallery, but in July 1824 some of this responsibility fell to the newly formed board of trustees.

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. But Agar-Ellis, by then a trustee of the gallery, appraised the site for being "in the very gangway of London"; this was seen as necessary for the gallery to fulfil its social purpose.{{sfn|Taylor|1999|pp=36–37}} [[Subsidence]] in No. 100 caused the gallery to move briefly to No. 105 Pall Mall, which the novelist [[Anthony Trollope]] described as a "dingy, dull, narrow house, ill-adapted for the exhibition of the treasures it held".{{sfn|Taylor|1999|pp=36–37}} This in turn had to be demolished for the opening of a road to [[Carlton House Terrace]].<ref name="Survey">[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68408 'Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery', ''Survey of London: volume 20: St Martin-in-the-Fields, pt III: Trafalgar Square & Neighbourhood''] (1940), pp. 15–18. Date accessed: 15 December 2009.</ref>

In 1832, construction began on a new building by [[William Wilkins (architect)|William Wilkins]] on the northern half of the site of the old [[Royal Mews]] in [[Charing Cross]], after the transformation of its southern half into [[Trafalgar Square]] in the late 1820s. The location was a significant one, between the wealthy [[West End of London|West End]] and poorer areas to the east.{{sfn|MacGregor|2004|p=30}} The argument that the collection could be accessed by people of all [[social classes]] outstripped other concerns, such as the pollution of central London or the failings of Wilkins's building, when the prospect of a move to [[South Kensington]] was mooted in the 1850s. According to the Parliamentary Commission of 1857, "The ''existence'' of the pictures is not the end purpose of the collection, but the means only to give the people an ennobling enjoyment".<ref>Quoted in {{Harvnb|Langmuir|2005|p=11}}</ref>

=== Growth under Eastlake and his successors ===
15th- and 16th-century Italian paintings were at the core of the National Gallery and for the first 30 years of its existence the trustees' independent acquisitions were mainly limited to works by [[High Renaissance]] masters. Their conservative tastes resulted in several missed opportunities and the management of the gallery later fell into complete disarray, with no acquisitions being made between 1847 and 1850.<ref>Robertson, David (2004). "Eastlake, Sir Charles Lock (1793–1865)", ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref> A critical House of Commons report in 1851 called for the appointment of a director, whose authority would surpass that of the trustees. Many thought the position would go to the German art historian [[Gustav Friedrich Waagen]], whom the gallery had consulted on previous occasions about the lighting and display of the collections. However, the man preferred for the job by [[Queen Victoria]], [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Albert]] and the Prime Minister, [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|Lord John Russell]], was the Keeper of Paintings at the gallery, Sir [[Charles Lock Eastlake]]. Eastlake, who was President of the [[Royal Academy]], played an essential role in the foundation of the [[Arundel Society]] and knew most of London's leading art experts.

[[File:Piero della Francesca - Battesimo di Cristo (National Gallery, London).jpg|thumb|right|upright|''[[The Baptism of Christ (Piero della Francesca)|The Baptism of Christ]]'' by [[Piero della Francesca]], one of Eastlake's purchases]]

The new director's taste was for the Northern and Early Italian Renaissance masters or "primitives", who had been neglected by the gallery's acquisitions policy but were slowly gaining recognition from connoisseurs. He made annual tours to the continent and to Italy in particular, seeking out appropriate paintings to buy for the gallery. In all, he bought 148 pictures abroad and 46 in Britain,<ref>''Grove Dictionary of Art'', Vol. 9, p. 683</ref> among the former such seminal works as [[Paolo Uccello]]'s ''[[The Battle of San Romano]]''. Eastlake also amassed a private art collection during this period, consisting of paintings that he knew did not interest the trustees. His ultimate aim, however, was for them to enter the National Gallery; this was duly arranged upon his death by his friend and successor as director, [[William Boxall]], and his widow Lady [[Elizabeth Eastlake]].

One of the most persistent criticisms of the National Gallery, other than of the perceived inadequacies of the building, has been of its conservation policy. The gallery's detractors have accused it of having had an over-zealous approach to restoration. The first cleaning operation at the National Gallery began in 1844 after Eastlake's appointment as Keeper, and was the subject of attacks in the press after the first three paintings to receive the treatment – a [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]], a [[Aelbert Cuyp|Cuyp]] and a [[Diego Velázquez|Velázquez]] – were unveiled to the public in 1846.{{sfn|Bomford|1997|p=7}} The gallery's most virulent critic was J. Morris Moore, who wrote a series of letters to ''[[The Times]]'' under the pseudonym "Verax" savaging the institution's cleanings. While an 1853 Parliamentary [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|select committee]] set up to investigate the matter cleared the gallery of any wrongdoing, criticism of its methods has been erupting sporadically ever since from some in the art establishment.

[[File:Vignetta-Punch-Restauro.gif|thumb|left|upright=1.15|An 1847 ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' cartoon by [[John Leech (caricaturist)|John Leech]] depicting the restoration controversy then ongoing]]

The gallery's lack of space remained acute in this period. In 1845, a large bequest of British paintings was made by [[Robert Vernon (art patron)|Robert Vernon]]; there was insufficient room in the Wilkins building so they were displayed first in Vernon's town house at No. 50 Pall Mall and then at [[Marlborough House]].<ref name="BakerHenry">Baker, Christopher and Henry, Tom (2001). "A short history of the National Gallery" in ''The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue''. London: National Gallery Company, pp. x–xix</ref> The gallery was even less well equipped for its next major bequest, as [[J. M. W. Turner]] was to bequeath the entire contents of his studio, excepting unfinished works, to the nation upon his death in 1851. The first 20 of these were displayed off-site in [[Marlborough House]] in 1856.{{sfn|Crookham|2012|p=56}} [[Ralph Nicholson Wornum]], the gallery's Keeper and Secretary, worked with [[John Ruskin]] to bring the bequest together. The stipulation in Turner's will that two of his paintings be displayed alongside works by [[Claude Lorrain|Claude]]{{sfn|Smith|2009|pp=72–73}} is still honoured as of 2024, but his bequest has never been adequately displayed in its entirety; today the works are divided between Trafalgar Square and the Clore Gallery, a small purpose-built extension to [[Tate Britain]] completed in 1985.

The third director, Sir [[Frederic William Burton]], laid the foundations of the collection of 18th-century art and made several outstanding purchases from English private collections. The acquisition in 1885 of two paintings from [[Blenheim Palace]], Raphael's ''[[Ansidei Madonna]]'' and van Dyck's ''[[Equestrian Portrait of Charles I]]'', with a record-setting grant of £87,500 from the [[HM Treasury|Treasury]], brought the gallery's "golden age of collecting" to an end, as its annual purchase grant was suspended for several years thereafter.{{sfn|Conlin|2006|pp=87–89}} When the gallery purchased [[Hans Holbein the Younger|Holbein]]'s ''[[The Ambassadors (Holbein)|Ambassadors]]'' from the [[William Pleydell-Bouverie, 5th Earl of Radnor|Earl of Radnor]] in 1890, it did so with the aid of private individuals for the first time in its history.{{sfn|Smith|2009|p=93}} In 1897, the formation of the National Gallery of British Art, known unofficially from early in its history as the [[Tate|Tate Gallery]], allowed some British works to be moved off-site, following the precedent set by the Vernon collection and the Turner Bequest. Works by artists born after 1790 were moved to the new gallery on [[Millbank]], which allowed [[William Hogarth|Hogarth]], Turner and [[John Constable|Constable]] to remain in Trafalgar Square.

===Early 20th century===
[[File:Diego Velázquez - Rokeby Venus.jpg|alt=Realistic painting of a nude woman seen from behind, reclining on a couch. She is looking at her reflection in a mirror held by a winged child.|thumb|right|''Venus at her Mirror'' (The ''[[Rokeby Venus]]'') by [[Diego Velázquez]]]]

The agricultural crisis at the turn of the 20th century caused many aristocratic families to sell their paintings, but the British national collections were priced out of the market by American plutocrats.{{sfn|Conlin|2006|p=107}} 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. Their first acquisition for the National Gallery was [[Diego Velázquez|Velázquez]]'s ''[[Rokeby Venus]]'' in 1906, followed by [[Hans Holbein the Younger|Holbein]]'s ''[[Portrait of Christina of Denmark]]'' in 1909. However, despite the crisis in aristocratic fortunes, the following decade was one of several great bequests from private collectors. In 1909, the industrialist [[Ludwig Mond]] gave 42 Italian Renaissance paintings, including the ''[[Mond Crucifixion]]'' by [[Raphael]], to the gallery.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/mond_bequest/default.htm |title= The Mond Bequest| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051102111149/http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/mond_bequest/default.htm |archive-date=2 November 2005 |publisher=National Gallery}}</ref> Other bequests of note were those of [[George Salting]] in 1910, [[Austen Henry Layard]] in 1916 and Sir [[Hugh Lane]] in 1917.

The initial reception of [[Impressionism|Impressionist]] art at the gallery was exceptionally controversial. In 1906, Sir Hugh Lane promised 39 paintings, including [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir|Renoir]]'s ''[[The Umbrellas (Renoir painting)|Umbrellas]]'', to the National Gallery on his death, unless a suitable building could be built in [[Dublin]]. Although eagerly accepted by the director [[Charles Holroyd]], they were received with extreme hostility by the trustees; [[Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale|Lord Redesdale]] wrote that "I would as soon expect to hear of a Mormon service being conducted in [[St. Paul's Cathedral]] as to see the exhibition of the works of the modern French Art-rebels in the sacred precincts of Trafalgar Square".<ref>Quoted in {{Harvnb|Conlin|2006|p=131}}</ref> Perhaps as a result of such attitudes, Lane amended his will with a codicil that the works should only go to Ireland, but crucially this was never witnessed.{{sfn|Conlin|2006|p=132}} Lane died on board the {{RMS|Lusitania}} in 1915, and a dispute began which was not resolved until 1959. Part of the collection is now on permanent loan to the [[Hugh Lane Gallery]] and other works rotate between London and Dublin every few years.

A fund for the purchase of modern paintings established by [[Samuel Courtauld (art collector)|Samuel Courtauld]] in 1923 bought [[Georges-Pierre Seurat|Seurat]]'s ''[[Bathers at Asnières]]'' and other modern works for the nation;{{sfn|Conlin|2006|p=131}} in 1934, many of these were transferred to the National Gallery from the Tate.

The director [[Kenneth Clark]]'s decision in 1939 to label a group of Venetian paintings, ''[[Scenes from Tebaldeo's Eclogues]]'', as works by [[Giorgione]] was controversial at the time, and the panels were soon identified as works by [[Andrea Previtali]] by a junior curator Clark had appointed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/research-papers/close-examination/scenes-from-tebaldeos-eclogues|title=Scenes from Tebaldeo's Eclogues |publisher=National Gallery|access-date=13 May 2020}}</ref>

===Second World War===
{{See also|Bwlch y Slaters quarry#Second World War}}
[[File:The Evacuation of Paintings From London during the Second World War HU36302.jpg|thumb|left|Paintings being evacuated from the National Gallery during the Second World War]]

Shortly before the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] the paintings were evacuated to locations in [[Wales]], including [[Penrhyn Castle]] and the university colleges of [[Bangor University|Bangor]] and [[Aberystwyth University|Aberystwyth]].{{sfn|Bosman|2008|p=25}} In 1940, during the [[Battle of France]], a more secure home was sought, and there were discussions about moving the paintings to Canada. This idea was firmly rejected by [[Winston Churchill]], who wrote in a telegram to Kenneth Clark, "bury them in caves or in cellars, but not a picture shall leave these islands".{{sfn|MacGregor|2004|p=43}} Instead a slate quarry at [[Bwlch y Slaters quarry|Manod]], near [[Blaenau Ffestiniog]] in North Wales, was requisitioned for the gallery's use.<ref name="NG">{{cite web |title=The Gallery in wartime |url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/our-history/the-gallery-in-wartime |website=The National Gallery |access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> In the seclusion afforded by the paintings' new location, the Keeper (and future director) [[Martin Davies (museum director)|Martin Davies]] began to compile scholarly catalogues on the collection, with assistance of the gallery's library which was also stored in the quarry. The move to Manod confirmed the importance of storing paintings at a constant temperature and humidity, something the gallery's conservators had long suspected but had hitherto been unable to prove.{{sfn|Bosman|2008|p=79}} This eventually resulted in the first air-conditioned gallery opening in 1949.<ref name="BakerHenry" />

For the course of the war [[Myra Hess]] and other musicians, such as [[Moura Lympany]], gave daily lunch-time recitals in the empty building in Trafalgar Square, to raise public morale as every concert hall in London was closed.<ref name="NG-Hess">{{cite web |title=The Myra Hess concerts |url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/history/the-myra-hess-concerts |website=The National Gallery-History |publisher=The National Gallery |access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Bosman|2008|p=35}} Art exhibitions were held at the gallery as a complement to the recitals. The first of these was ''British Painting since Whistler'' in 1940, organised by [[Lillian Browse]],<ref name=farr>Farr, Dennis (2006). [http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/newsletter/spring_2006/p04browse.shtml "Empathy for Art and Artists: Lillian Browse, 1906–2005"]. ''Newsletter'' of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Issue 21: Spring 2006. Accessed March 2012. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007045136/http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/newsletter/spring_2006/p04browse.shtml |date=7 October 2013}}</ref> who also mounted the major joint retrospective ''Exhibition of Paintings by Sir [[William Nicholson (artist)|William Nicholson]] and [[Jack B. Yeats]]'' held from 1 January to 15 March 1942, which was seen by 10,518 visitors.<ref name=1942cat>Clark, Sir Kenneth (1942). ''Exhibition of Paintings by Sir William Nicholson and Jack B. Yeats'', exhibition catalogue. London: National Gallery.</ref><ref name=reed>Reed, Patricia (2011). ''William Nicholson: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings''. London; New Haven: Modern Art Press, Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978 0 300 17054 2}}. pp. 636–638</ref> Exhibitions of work by war artists, including [[Paul Nash (artist)|Paul Nash]], [[Henry Moore]] and [[Stanley Spencer]], were also held; the [[War Artists' Advisory Committee]] had been set up by Clark in order "to keep artists at work on any pretext".{{sfn|Bosman|2008|pp=91–93}} 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. The art critic [[Herbert Read]], writing that year, called the National Gallery "a defiant outpost of culture right in the middle of a bombed and shattered metropolis".{{sfn|Bosman|2008|p=99}} The paintings returned to Trafalgar Square in 1945.

===Post-war developments===
The last major outcry against the use of radical conservation techniques at the National Gallery was in the immediate post-war years, following a restoration campaign by the gallery's chief restorer [[Helmut Ruhemann]] while the paintings were in Manod Quarry. When the cleaned pictures were exhibited to the public in 1946 there followed a furore with parallels to that of a century earlier. The principal criticism was that the extensive removal of [[varnish]], which was used in the 19th century to protect the surface of paintings but which darkened and discoloured over time, may have resulted in the loss of "harmonising" glazes added to the paintings by the artists themselves. The opposition to Ruhemann's techniques was led by [[Ernst Gombrich]], a professor at the [[Warburg Institute]] who in later correspondence with a restorer described being treated with "offensive superciliousness" by the National Gallery.{{sfn|Walden|2004|p=176}} A 1947 commission concluded that no damage had been done in the recent cleanings.

[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - Virgin and Child with Ss Anne and John the Baptist.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist]]'' by [[Leonardo da Vinci]]]]

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-Impressionism|Post-Impressionists]] – have risen beyond its means. Some of the gallery's most significant purchases in this period would have been impossible without the major public appeals backing them, including [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s cartoon of ''[[The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist]]'' (bought in 1962) and [[Titian]]'s ''[[Death of Actaeon]]'' (bought in 1972). The gallery's purchase grant from the government was frozen in 1985, but later that year it received an endowment of £50&nbsp;million from Sir [[Paul Getty]], enabling many major purchases to be made.<ref name="BakerHenry"/> In April 1985 [[John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover|Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover]] and his brothers, the Hon. [[Simon Sainsbury]] and Sir [[Timothy Sainsbury]], had made a donation that would enable the construction of the Sainsbury Wing.{{sfn|Conlin|2006|p=429}}

The directorship of [[Neil MacGregor]] saw a major rehang at the gallery, dispensing with the classification of paintings by national school that had been introduced by Eastlake. The new chronological hang sought to emphasise the interaction between cultures rather than fixed national characteristics, reflecting the change in art-historical values since the 19th century.{{sfn|Conlin|2006|p=435}} In other respects, however, Victorian tastes were rehabilitated: the building's interiors were no longer considered an embarrassment and were restored, and in 1999 the gallery accepted a bequest of 26 [[Italian Baroque]] paintings from Sir [[Denis Mahon]]. Earlier in the 20th century many considered the Baroque to be beyond the pale: in 1945 the gallery's trustees declined to buy a [[Guercino]] from Mahon's collection for £200. The same painting was valued at £4&nbsp;million in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cronaca.com/archives/000503.html |title=Sir Denis Mahon |publisher=Cronaca |date=23 February 2003 |access-date=8 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207042707/http://www.cronaca.com/archives/000503.html |archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref> Mahon's bequest was made on the condition that the gallery would never [[Collection (museum)#Deaccessioning|deaccession]] any of its paintings or charge for admission.{{sfn|Gaskell|2000|pp=179–182}}

The respective remits of the National and Tate Galleries, which had long been contested by the two institutions, were more clearly defined in 1996. 1900 was established as the cut-off point for paintings in the National Gallery, and in 1997 more than 60 post-1900 paintings from the collection were given to the Tate on a long-term loan, in return for works by [[Paul Gauguin|Gauguin]] and others. However, future expansion of the National Gallery may yet see the return of 20th-century paintings to its walls.<ref>{{cite news|first=Martin |last=Bailey |title=National Gallery may start acquiring 20th-century art |newspaper=[[The Art Newspaper]] |date=2 November 2005 |url=http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=55 |access-date=14 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015437/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=55 |archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref>

===21st century===

{{multiple image |direction = vertical |width = 220
|align=left
|image1=Titian - Diana and Actaeon - Google Art Project.jpg
|alt1=Painting of a man happening upon a group of nude women, bathing in a grotto-like space.
|caption1=[[Titian]]'s ''[[Diana and Actaeon (Titian)|Diana and Actaeon]]'', bought in 2008, jointly with the [[National Gallery of Scotland]]
|image2=Tizian 015 (2).jpg
|alt2=Painting of two groups of mostly nude women; on the right, the goddess Diana points accusingly at a woman in the left group who lies on the floor in a state of distress.
|caption2=Titian's ''[[Diana and Callisto]]'', bought in 2012, jointly with the National Gallery of Scotland
}}

In the 21st century there have been three large fundraising campaigns at the gallery: in 2004, to buy Raphael's ''[[Madonna of the Pinks]]''; in 2008, for Titian's ''[[Diana and Actaeon (Titian)|Diana and Actaeon]]''; and in 2012, Titian's ''[[Diana and Callisto]]''. Both Titians were bought in tandem with the [[National Gallery of Scotland]] for £95&nbsp;m. Both of these major works were sold from the [[Bridgewater Loan|collection of the Duke of Sutherland]]. The National Gallery is now largely priced out of the market for Old Master paintings and can only make such acquisitions with the backing of major public appeals; the departing director [[Charles Saumarez Smith]] expressed his frustration at this situation in 2007.<ref name=gayford>{{cite news |first=Martin |last=Gayford |title=Wanted – National Gallery Chief to Muster Cash |newspaper=Bloomberg |date=23 April 2007 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=alG6uNHZGr3M&refer=muse |access-date=21 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019212913/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088 |archive-date=19 October 2008}}</ref>

The National Gallery was sponsored by the Italian arms manufacturer [[Finmeccanica]] between October 2011 and October 2012. The sponsorship deal allowed the company to use gallery spaces for gatherings, and the gallery was used to host delegates during the [[DSEI]] arms fair and the [[Farnborough Airshow]]. The sponsorship deal was ended a year early after protests.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/oct/10/arms-manufacturer-national-gallery-sponsorship|title=Arms manufacturer halts National Gallery sponsorship after protests|last=Malik|first=Shiv|date=10 October 2012|work=The Guardian|access-date=16 February 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In February 2014, the gallery purchased ''[[Men of the Docks]]'' by the American artist [[George Bellows]] for $25.5&nbsp;million (£15.6&nbsp;million). It was the first major American painting to be purchased by the gallery. The director, [[Nicholas Penny]], termed the painting a new direction for the gallery, a non-European painting in a European style. Its sale was controversial in the United States.<ref>Jaschik, Scott (12 February 2014). "Randolph sale of art to National Gallery sparks criticism". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.</ref>

In 2018, the National Gallery was one of the first public galleries in London to charge more than £20 for admission to a special exhibition, the exhibition in question being of works by [[Claude Monet]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/apr/06/national-gallerys-22-ticket-revives-debate-exhibition-prices|title=National Gallery's £22 ticket revives debate over exhibition prices|last=Khomami|first=Nadia|date=6 April 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=16 December 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In February 2019, an [[employment tribunal]] ruled that the gallery had incorrectly classed its team of educators as self-employed contractors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions/ms-a-braine-and-others-v-the-national-gallery-2201625-2018|title=Ms A Braine and others v The National Gallery: 2201625/2018|website=GOV.UK}}</ref> The educators were awarded the status of "workers" following legal action brought by 27 claimants. The case received considerable press and media coverage.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-47409755|title=National Gallery group win workers' rights|date=1 March 2019|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/01/national-gallery-lecturers-win-right-to-be-recognised-as-workers|title=National Gallery lecturers win right to be recognised as workers|first=Owen|last=Bowcott|date=1 March 2019|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.globallegalpost.com/big-stories/no-artful-dodge-for-uk-national-gallery-at-gig-tribunal-68666911/|title=No artful dodge for UK National Gallery at gig tribunal|website=globallegalpost.com}}</ref>

In 2024, the National Gallery celebrated its 200th anniversary with a range of programmes, events, and collaborations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NG200 |url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/ng200-programme |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=www.nationalgallery.org.uk}}</ref>