Author: Susanna Avery-Quash

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9781838469900

Creating a National Collection' is the first exhibition to explore the unique relationship and influence the National Gallery has had on the evolution of Southampton?s collection. The historical links between the two galleries are significant, but little known. This fruitful relationship was established from the start, when Cllr Robert Chipperfield (1817?1911), whose bequest in 1911 led to the creation of the collection and the Art Gallery in Southampton, ensured that future acquisitions would be of a national calibre. Chipperfield had the foresight to stipulate that all purchases using his Trust fund should be undertaken in consultation with the Director of the National Gallery. Kenneth Clark, newly installed as the National Gallery?s Director in 1934 took a particularly active interest in advising Southampton on acquisitions and wrote its first formal collecting policy in 1936, which essentially remains in place today.00The exhibition will include outstanding works from Southampton, alongside the loan of 9 paintings from the National Gallery, by artists including Monet, Gainsborough, Maggi Hambling and Paula Rego. The two institutions have worked in partnership as part of the current 2019?21 National Gallery Curatorial Traineeship programme, supported by the Art Fund with the assistance of the Vivmar Foundation, with Curatorial Trainee, Jemma Craig, leading on a project to explore this dynamic and ongoing collaboration. A major publication will accompany the exhibition which will tell the fascinating history of Southampton City Art Gallery, and its relationship with the National Gallery, using untapped archival material and new oral histories.00Exhibition: Southampton City Art Gallery, UK (28.05.-04.09.2021).