In London, the National Gallery resumes

London. After more than two years of closure, the National Gallery Sainsbury Wing reopened on May 10. Located on the left of Trafalgar Square, this building becomes the main entrance to the institution. This transformation was one of the museum bicentennial projects, which has been celebrated since May 2024 over a whole year. But the reflection was launched six years ago. “The reception was not up to the excellence of our collections, explains Gabriele Findi, the director of the National Gallery. We wanted to create a wider space, more beautiful and which serves as an introduction to our works. »» To do this, a 12 m wide screen, in very high definition, was hung at the bottom of this entrance to broadcast close -ups on the museum tables, one of the most beautiful collections of European paint in the 13th century at the beginning of the 20th century. It reveals, among other things, sublime details on the patterns of the carpet of Husband Arnolfini (1434), by Jan Van Eyck.

Modified lighting

The rest of the project, designed by the American agency Selldorf Architects, consisted in transforming the first floor of the building into a mezzanine and removing the shop which occupied a large part of the reception area. The dark glass that along the staircase leading to the galleries, on the first floor, was replaced by a clear glazing, letting in natural light and revealing views of the other wing of the National Gallery, as on Trafalgar Square. This new space also has a coffee, as well as a restaurant and a bookstore-boutique in terms of mezzanine.

This project was grafted the idea of ​​rethinking the presentation of the entire museum. All the works have been won, some of the rooms have been renovated and the lighting has been changed. If the course remains chronological, Christine Riding, director of collections and research within the museum, wanted to highlight the links between the paintings and offer the public a real lesson in art history.“We tried to bring out what was the function of these works of art when they were created (Editor’s note, the reasons why they were ordered and the way they wanted to be seen)the transitions between the different styles as well as the moments when the artists began to consider other ways of doing things ”, she explains.

More than 40 % of the exhibited collection

Without enlarging the hanging space, this new configuration, called “CC Land, The Wonder of Art” (the wonder of art), allows you to optimize the presentation of the collection. More than 40 % of the 2,600 works of the National Gallery are now presented to the public, compared to around 30 % before. In the room reserved for the British collection, this effort resulted in a hanging of the paintings above the other. “Visibility may not be ideal, but it is always better than not presenting them to the public”estimates the director of the collections. On the other hand, some works are now highlighted on a section of wall which is entirely attributed to them, like the Ambassadors (1533) by Holbein or Sunflower (1888) by Van Gogh. Some rooms were also exclusively devoted to certain masters such as Rembrandt, Titian or Monet.

All the projects related to the bicentennial, including the transformation of the Sainsbury Wing and the renovation of the permanent exhibition halls, cost 95 million pounds Sterling (€ 113 million), of which € 10 million (€ 12 million) were devoted to the festivities program. No public subsidy has been paid, but access to the permanent collections remains free. Nevertheless, the transformation of the building is not over. The museum officials decided to let the public take advantage of the new grip for the next twelve months, before starting new works from 2026. “We will redevelop the current library to make it a new research center, there will be a new artist workshop and a new seminar room”, Indicates Paul Gray, the director general of operations. A tunnel will also make it possible to reach the two buildings in the basement.