NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON to NATIONAL MUSEUM KOREA

THE NATIONAL GALLERY ENGLAND announces second partner for Asia Tour

by Norman Warwick

As I am sure our readers are aware, my father, Norman Warwick,always reminds us that he and his team follow sidetracks and detours all over the world in search of interesting arts-related new items to deliver. Just occasionally, though, I can ask him Have I Got Newss For you, and tis week the answer is a resounding Yes ! So I shared my news with him, so that he didn´t have come over to South Korea to look for it. That would be the last thing I want.

Only this morning, my wife and daughter and I visited The National Museum Korea, (left) just round a couple corners for me as i have lived here in uKorera for more than twenty years now). It was over the weekend that I learned. that a number of remarkable and highly valued artefacts usually housed in The Nstional Gallery In London, are at present undertaking a tour of Asia and are currently on show at The National Museum of Korea, in Seoul in South Korea.

So I sent the news over to my folks on Lanzarote to give dad this item for his blog.. It was busy even at this late stage of its residency, which has been running since the 2nd June and closes next week.. My wife Sue, and our thirteen year old daughter Olivia, and I were very impressed and we´re pleased we learned about it in time to make a visit , We viewed some ´fantastic masterpieces, and I was thrilled thrilled to see Rembrandt works and self-portrait in the flesh, as it were. (right)

As the National Gallery London prepares for NG200 – its year-long Bicentenary celebration from 10 May 2024 – significant building work in Trafalgar Square has presented an exceptional opportunity to bring even more people and paintings together, globally, by offering a chance for Asian audiences to access our collection without having to travel to London.

This new series builds on the hugely successful tour to Australia and Japan in 2020 and 2021, which was enjoyed by more than 700,000 people, along with numerous other on-going National Gallery activities in the Asia region including learning and retail experiences, plus digital and brand partnerships.

‘Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London’ drew record audiences at its first venue, the Shanghai Museum (until 7 May 2023), and is the National Gallery’s first-ever exhibition in China.

From Shanghai it travelled to Seoul, opening at the National Museum (shown at the top of our page). This is the National Gallery’s first visit to Korea and marks the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UK and Republic of Korea.

‘Masterpieces from the National Gallery’ is in essence a ‘National Gallery in miniature’ – a selection representative of the Gallery’s history which offers audiences a concise and beautiful history of Western art as uniquely told by the National Gallery’s collection.

Key loans include Sandro Botticelli´s Three Miracles of Saint Zenobius (treckoned to date from circa 1500), and Raphael´s  The Garvagh Madonna (about 1510–11). Jan Gossaert´s work of  A Young Princess date from about 1530–and Caravaggio´s , Boy Bitten By A Lizard (left) from around about , are also part of the exhibition as is Rembrandt´s , Self Portrait at the Age of 63 (1669), which has so impressed our son.

Other exhibits include Canaletto, Venice: Entrance To The Cannaregio (probably 1734–42), Van Gogh, Long Grass With Butterflies (1890) Claude Monet, Irises (about 1914-1917), John Constable, Stratford Mill (1820) and Turner, The Parting of Hero and Leander (before 1837).

Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says ‘I am delighted that the National Gallery is building on its highly successful tours of Australia and Japan and reaching new audiences across Asia and internationally.

The Gallery has an important role to play in promoting the UK’s globally recognised position as a centre for culture and the arts, and we remain passionately committed to cultural exchange internationally.

The tour demonstrates how the Gallery continues to innovate in the way it designs and delivers partnerships, with the exhibition representing what is essentially the ‘National Gallery in miniature’. It is also a reminder of the continued interest of audiences from around the world in the European tradition and the world-renowned collection we are custodians of here at the National Gallery.’

Yoon Sung Yong, Director of the National Museum of Korea, says ‘It is a pleasure for the National Museum of Korea to organize this special exhibition with the National Gallery, in celebration of the 140th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.

The Museum has played a central role in diffusing the Korean culture and history to a wider public while creating collaborative ties with other global institutions. This exhibition will be an important opportunity to explore the passages in European art history through the paintings from the National Gallery. I sincerely hope that this exhibition helps to further strengthen the links that unite the two countries.’

If we hear feedback on the rest of the tour these Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London – a new exhibition of 52 paintings by artists such as Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Constable, Monet, and Van Gogh – while  touring Asia during 2023 and early 2024. we will be sure to let you know..