The National Gallery to start collecting Contemporary Art
September 9 2025
Picture: The National Gallery, London
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Big announcements this morning that The National Gallery in London will be planning a £400m extension and will be heading up a new acquisitions policy in collaboration with Tate that will see the scrapping of its 1900 cut-off date. The gallery has already quietly raised £375m for the building project, which will include the demotion of St Vincent House located at the rear of the site to make way for the new galleries. A competition for its design will open on 12th September 2025.
According to The Art Newspaper:
Finaldi envisages the 20th-century collection as starting with the later French Impressionists, then the arrival of Picasso and Matisse, the Italian Futurists, German Expressionists, Surrealists, American Abstract Expressionists, and up to the near the present, with a good chronological and geographical spread. No longer will the gallery’s collection be almost entirely European.
The 20th-century collection will be built up with both acquisitions and loans. Acquisitions will be dependent on raising yet more funding. To assist with loans, Finaldi intends to approach the estates of leading artists. With Tate, there would hopefully be an even greater exchange of loans between the two galleries.
Update - Here's the official press release from the NG.
Update 2 - Here is a thread on 'X' with Bendor's own thoughts.
