The National Gallery announces fourth partner for Asia Tour

Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London - an exhibition of 52 paintings by artists such as Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Constable, Monet, and Van Gogh – is touring Asia during 2023 and 2024.

The fourth and final partner will be the CHIMEI Museum, Tainan, Taiwan where the exhibition will run from 2 May until 1 September 2024.

As the Gallery prepares for NG200 – its year-long Bicentenary celebration from 10 May 2024 – significant building work in Trafalgar Square has given us an exceptional opportunity to bring even more people and paintings together globally by offering a chance for Asian audiences to access our collection without having to travel to London.

This series builds on the hugely successful tour to Australia and Japan in 2020 and 2021, which was enjoyed by more than 700,000 people, along with numerous other ongoing National Gallery activities in the Asia region including learning and retail experiences, plus digital and brand partnerships.

Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London drew record audiences at its first venue – the Shanghai Museum (17 January – 7 May 2023) – where 420,000 people saw the National Gallery’s first-ever exhibition in China.

It proved just as popular in Seoul, where on the National Gallery’s first visit to Korea – and marking the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UK and Republic of Korea – it was seen by 361,866 at the National Museum of Korea (2 June - 9 October 2023).

The exhibition is currently being enjoyed by large numbers of visitors at the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) where it will stay until 11 April 2024, before travelling to the final venue in Taiwan.

Masterpieces from the National Gallery is in essence a ‘National Gallery in miniature’ – a selection representative of the Gallery’s history which offers audiences a concise and beautiful history of Western art as uniquely told by the National Gallery’s collection.

Key loans include Sandro Botticelli, Three Miracles of Saint Zenobius (about 1500), Raphael, The Garvagh Madonna (about 1510–11), Jan Gossaert, A Young Princess (about 1530–2), Caravaggio, Boy bitten by a Lizard (about 1594–5), Rembrandt, Self Portrait at the Age of 63 (1669), Canaletto, Venice: Entrance to the Cannaregio (probably 1734–42), Vincent van Gogh, Long Grass with Butterflies (1890), Claude Monet, Irises (about 1914‒17), John Constable, Stratford Mill (1820) and Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Parting of Hero and Leander (before 1837).

Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says ‘I am delighted that the National Gallery will be visiting Taiwan for the first time with a superb representation of paintings by celebrated European artists. The Gallery has an important role to play in advocating the UK’s internationally recognised position as a centre for the arts, and we remain passionately committed to cultural exchange internationally. This tour has demonstrated the continuing interest of audiences from around the world in the European tradition and the world-renowned collection we are custodians of here at the National Gallery. We are delighted so many people enjoyed this exhibition in Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong, and we are now looking forward to introducing it to visitors in Tainan.’

CHIMEI Museum Director Chia-Chang Shi said ‘It is a tremendous honour for the CHIMEI Museum to host the ’Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London’ exhibition. For the first time in Taiwan, visitors to the CHIMEI Museum in Tainan will have the unique opportunity to peer into over 400 years of European art history with 52 masterpieces by 50 of the most iconic and influential artists from late 15th to early 20th century. The CHIMEI Museum is one of the most visited museums in Taiwan, and for more than 30 years, it has continued to support and promote the arts by making Western art accessible to the public. We believe that through our collaboration with the National Gallery, London, we will be able to foster an even deeper understanding and appreciation of European art and history among the Taiwanese audience, inspiring artists, young people, and the public to make art an integral part of the community.’

More information at nationalgallery.org.uk

The National Gallery is one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Founded by Parliament in 1824, the Gallery houses the nation’s collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to the early 20th century. The collection includes works by Artemisia Gentileschi, Bellini, Cézanne, Degas, Leonardo, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh and Velázquez. The Gallery’s key objectives are to care for and enhance the collection and provide the best possible access to visitors. Admission free.

On 10 May 2024 the National Gallery will be 200 years old, and we will start our Bicentenary celebration, a year-long festival of art, creativity and imagination, marking two centuries of bringing people and paintings together.

More information at nationalgallery.org.uk

CHIMEI Museum is a private museum established by Mr. Wen-Long Shi, founder of the Chi Mei Group. The museum was first established and housed in the administration building of the Chi Mei Corporation in 1992, relocated to the Tainan Metropolitan Park in 2014, and reopened in 2015. The collection at CHIMEI Museum consists mainly of Western art, musical instruments, arms and armour, animal taxidermy and fossils, exhibiting approximately 4000 items, which is about one third of the complete Chimei collection. The museum was created so that people of all ages and social backgrounds can have easy access to Western culture and arts. Founder Shi expressed that, “Good works of art are not to be kept just for oneself to enjoy, but to be shared with the public.”

More information at www.chimeimuseum.org