Musing over Monet: National Gallery loans big names to regional gallery
Artwork from the likes of Claude Monet, Gainsborough and Maggi Hambling are among those now on display at Southampton City Art Gallery.
The National Gallery has teamed up with the city gallery as it was officially reopened on Thursday (27 May).
The collection from the national gallery is the first set of large scale loans to a regional venue in nearly a decade.
Nine paintings are on loan and is part of a collection, including works from Southampton, entitled Creating a National Collection.
The exhibition aims to showcase the relationship the Southampton gallery has had with the National Gallery for years.
The relationship started with Robert Chipperfield, the founder of Southampton’s art gallery, who in 1911 stated in his will that all future purchases made using his financial bequest should have the blessing of the director of the National Gallery.
Southampton city council says it's a 'perfect example' of why it is bidding for the UK City of Culture 2025.
Claire Whitaker OBE, Director of Southampton's City of Culture bid said: "When you go for city of culture, it's really important that you can show potential to grow and we have something wonderful in the city art gallery to build on because we have such a wonderful collection.
"Also these relationships, like the collaboration with the national gallery, really show the national and international potential of our work in the city."
What does City of Culture mean?(Source: British Council)
The ‘UK City of Culture’ title was created following the success of Glasgow and Liverpool as ‘EU Capitals of Culture’ in 1990 and 2008 respectively.
The title of UK City of Culture is an opportunity both to project a city onto the world stage, and to kindle new international relationships, bringing performers and works from across the globe to the city to build sustainable collaborations and trusted partnerships.