First Look: National Gallery Rehang

In Pictures

I popped along to the National Gallery on the much-anticipated 200th anniversary rehang and revamp of the Sainsbury Wing.

The anniversary was actually last year but the Sainsbury Wing remodelling is part of the year-long celebration from May 10, 2024 – May 10, 2025 – the day of the re-opening.

I am anticipating the first look at the gallery’s earliest works, dating back to 1260 and displayed for the first time.. It’s been a two-year wait, but the Sainsbury Wing is now complete and open to the public.

The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci, 1508

JMW TURNER

And with the 250th anniversary of Turner’s birth in the same year as the Nationall Gallery’s 200th anniversary celebrations, no visit would be complete without a visit to the Turner display.

A large moving image display celebrating one of the artist’s greatest works – The Fighting Temeraire.

And a visitor looking at Turner’s painting of the real thing – The Fighting Temeraire, 1838

And that’s about it!

Want to discover more about Turner? In my article I discuss whether he should be recognised as the Father of Modern Art.

And for more on London’s art scene, read my book London Art In Review