On Saturday 24th September the National Gallery will reopen both its main Portico entrance, and Room 1 – both of which have been closed for a year whilst extensive building and refurbishment have taken place.

Simultaneously, a special exhibition will open in Room 1 to celebrate the 25 years of the generous support it has received from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF).

Since its foundation in 1980, the NHMF has played a crucial role in saving iconic works of art, objects, places and landscapes for the nation, this exhibition celebrates the joint achievement of the National Gallery and the NHMF in preserving for the public a group of works of exceptional artistic and historical significance.

The exhibition will bring together a group of seven celebrated paintings acquired by the National Gallery for the nation with the support of the NHMF – among them Holbein’s Lady with a Squirrel and Starling which was acquired in 1993 with a grant of £3.5 million towards the cost and Claude’s Enchanted Castle, acquired in 1981 with a contribution from the NHMF of £825,000. This painting influenced the romantic writers of the 19th Century and is said to have inspired Keats to write his ‘Ode to a Nightingale’.

Commenting on the exhibition, Charles Saumarez Smith, Director of the National Gallery said: ‘We are delighted to be able to join in the NHMF’s Silver Jubilee celebrations by staging this exhibition which brings together a group of tremendously important paintings, which would almost certainly have been lost to the nation without the Fund’s support’ .

Stephen Johnson, Head of the National Heritage Memorial Fund added ‘Since 1980 the NHMF fund has spent £220 million on more than 1,200 emergency acquisitions, from the Flying Scotsman to Picasso’s Weeping Woman’. We hope the public will visit this exhibition at the National Gallery enjoy the results of our achievement over the last 25 years.’

Notes to Editors

The seven paintings that will be shown and the order in which they were acquired are as follows:

1. Christ taking leave of his Mother by Altdorfer. NG6463. The acquisition of this painting strengthened the collection of German paintings at the National Gallery, then relatively under-represented. Works by Altdorfer are exceptionally rare: this painting and the Landscape with a Footbridge (Room 4) are the only two works by the artist in this country. The painting was bought for £2.45million by the National Gallery in 1980 from the Wernher Collection at Luton Hoo, only months after the NHMF was founded. Without the intervention of the NHMF, which gave £825,000, the National Art Collections Fund (Eugene Cremetti) and the Pilgrim Trust, the painting would have been sold at auction, and almost certainly have been exported.

2. Landscape with Psyche outside the Palace of Cupid (‘The Enchanted Castle’) by Claude. NG6471. This painting was on loan to the National Gallery until 1974, when it was bought by the Gallery in 1981 for £1.35million with the aid of £500,000 from the NHMF and a grant from the National Art Collections Fund.

3. The Triumph of Pan by Poussin. NG6477. This painting was one of seven works by Poussin to enter British collections in 1741. In 1850 it was bought for £1,239 by the art collector and Liberal M.P., James Morrison and remained in the possession of his descendents at Sudeley Castle until it was sold to the National Gallery. It was purchased in 1982 for £1.3million, to which the NHMF contributed a grant of £200,000, and with the support of the National Art Collections Fund.

4.The Concert by Ter Brugghen. NG6496. This painting demonstrates the artist’s skill in representing the effects of candlelight. It came to England around 1700, when it was bought by the distinguished collector Lord Somers, who was Lord Chancellor to King William III. The painting was acquired by the National Gallery in 1983 for a little over £1.7million with a £500,000 grant from the NHMF and with donations from the National Art Collections Fund and the Pilgrim Trust.

5. Mr and Mrs Thomas Coltman by Wright of Derby. NG6496. Wright painted this elegant portrait of Thomas Coltman and his first wife Mary in 1770/1. Wright portrays the Coltmans outdoors at Gate Burton House, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, about to go on a ride. The painting remained in the Coltman family until it was bought by the National Gallery at auction in 1984 for £1,149,600. The NHMF gave £400,000 towards the purchase, which was also supported by the Pilgrim Trust.

6. River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants by Cuyp. NG6522. Considered the greatest Cuyp landscape, this painting is recognised as having been a major influence on British Landscape painting, inspiring in particular 18th Century painters such as Constable, who was known to have sketched the painting. This painting remained in the Bute collection when it was bought in 1989 for £8 million, with a grant of £1.5million from the NHMF and with a contribution from the National Art Collection Fund.

7. Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling by Holbein the Younger. NG6540. This painting probably dates from Holbein’s first visit to England in 1526-8. The identity of the sitter had long remained a mystery. However, it has recently been suggested that the squirrel and starling may allude to the identity of the sitter as Anne Lovell of East Harling, Norfolk. This painting was acquired by the National Gallery in 1993 for £10million, with a £3.5million grant from the NHMF and support from the National Art Collections Fund. The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up by the National Heritage Act of 1980 as a memorial to those who gave their lives for this country in war. Its role is to secure for the nation any object of outstanding historic, artistic or scientific interest which is at risk of imminent loss through export or irreversible damage. The Fund has helped to acquire land and historic buildings, works of fine and decorative art, museum collections, archives, manuscripts and items of transport and industrial history.

Further information

Tracy Jones 0207 747 2512 tracy.jones@ng-london.org.uk
Images: Louise Butler 020 7747 2596 louise.butler@ng-london.org.uk

Samantha Goody, National Heritage Memorial Fund Communications Manager
Phone: 020 7591 6033 samanthag@hlf.org.uk