National Gallery Departments

Curatorial

Each curator is responsible for the care, display, cataloguing and general educational presentation of the group of paintings in their care.

They also advise on loans and acquisitions and help to organise exhibitions. (The paintings are divided between curators according to national school and also by period.)

The Curatorial Department incorporates the following departments:

Exhibitions

This department organises and mounts temporary exhibitions, working with the curatorial team to plan and co-ordinate exhibition programmes and, with the Design Department, on the installation of exhibitions.

The Head of Exhibitions is also responsible for the overall appearance of the Gallery.

Libraries & Archive

The principal purpose of the Gallery's private library is to assist the curatorial, education and other staff in researching, writing about and lecturing on the collection. It is not open to the general public. It contains over 50,000 books, many of them rare, as well as periodicals, exhibition catalogues and pamphlets.

There is also a photographic and slide library. The Archive preserves letters, reports, minutes, press cuttings and other material relating to the history of the Gallery and its collection from 1824 to the present day.