The National Gallery of Ireland has unveiled a new strategic vision to mark its 170th year in existence.
The National Gallery Act was passed on August 10th, 1854 and the gallery opened 10 years later with 100 works of art. It now has 17,000.
The strategic vision for the next four years is the first under director Dr Caroline Campbell, who took up office 18 months ago.
The gallery, which attracted more than one million visitors last year, intends to create the first scientific laboratory dedicated to the appreciation and the conservation of its collection, starting with Jack B Yeats paintings.
There will be further sharing of the gallery’s collection through loans, similar to a temporary exhibition of Yeats oil paintings at the Model in Co Sligo and the loaning of Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ to the Ulster Museum in Belfast.
To mark its 170th anniversary, the gallery announced the acquisition of a number of new works including a Rembrandt print, Landscape with Cottages and a Hay Barn, which has not gone on public display because of light sensitivity. It is the first print of its kind acquired by the gallery.
It has also acquired an oil on canvas painting by Dairine Vanston, On Huband Bridge, and Hughie O’Donoghue’s monumental Original Sins (2022) which was commissioned for the Decade of Centenaries and takes its themes from the painting The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife by Daniel Maclise.
The gallery’s temporary exhibition of works by women impressionists has been a success, and Dr Campbell said the acquisition of works by women artists would be prioritised in future. She also said the gallery is developing a master plan for its home on Merrion Square, which will include an education centre.
“Education is a really important part of a museum’s activities today. We want to get families and young people in to show that it is their collection. We want to maximise the public benefit we have now.”