Against an impenetrable black ground, the crucified figure looms pale and shining. There's almost no colour, beyond the trickle of blood on Christ's feet from the nails driven through his flesh.
The design is both innovative and beautiful, meeting the ambition and sensitivity required for an international gallery commission. It is respectful of the Sainsbury Wing galleries and the approach to the public realm and roof garden creates a generous presence, enhanced by trees and greenery.
Plus, King Henry's new conquest, RTÉ and TG4 make nice, and the clickbaity WSJ Browsing through the annual reports of the National Gallery and National Library for 2024, both published last week, we noticed how modestly the people who guard our cultural heritage are paid. Dr Audrey Whitty, the director of the library, got a salary of €127,868 that year. There are no bonuses or benefits-in-kind attached to the position. And the director of the National Gallery, Dr Caroline Campbell, was paid €128,724.
Night-owls will have the chance to dance along to an eclectic mix of electronic and pop music under the same roof as the gallery's more than 2,300 paintings, dating as far back as the mid-13th century. If that wasn't enough, the set will be headlined by Soundcloud DJ Mia Lily, as well as RuPaul's Drag Race UK season 2 star Bimini Bon-Boulash, better known simply as Bimini.
While the financial impact of this particular shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, has not yet been calculated, past closures have been costly to museums and other cultural sites that were forced to close. In addition to staff furloughs and suspended or canceled programs, the 2018-2019 shutdown resulted in a loss of some $5 billion, according to the American Alliance of Museums.
The talks series Unexpected Views-when eight contemporary artists are invited to speak for ten minutes in front of their favourite works at the National Gallery-is always a Frieze week high point. "It's like art historical speed dating," quipped a befrocked Grayson Perry, who chose to talk about William Hogarth's Marriage A-la-Mode painting cycle, which he praised for its "storytelling, observation and sense of humour". He added that "humour is greatly under-rated" and that "we over-privilege misery".
"We reduced the exhibition footprint given over to British colonial imagery related to coastal and topographical surveys, which was part of the first iteration of the permanent gallery."
The Triumph of Art, a massive street party in Trafalgar Square on July 26, celebrates the National Gallery's 200th birthday with banners, brass bands, inflatables, and performances.
