The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour offers non-London museums, galleries and art centres the opportunity to partner with the National Gallery, collaborating to displaying major works from the collection across the UK.
The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour
The National Gallery Collection belongs to the public and we are committed to sharing our collection, enabling access, and engaging with diverse audiences.
Contact us
If you'd like to find out more, please contact:
Email:
nationalpartnerships@nationalgallery.org.uk
We look forward to hearing from you.
2023
Between 2021–23 the National Gallery partnered with The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven; Carmarthenshire County Museum and Oriel Davies, Newtown, Powys to display one different masterpiece from our collection.
From 2021, for the first time in the Masterpiece Tour’s history, the partner venues were selected for a three-year period and the painting for 2021 and 2023 were chosen jointly by the partners and the National Gallery.
The third masterpiece to tour was Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio’s 'Tobias and the Angel'.
Oriel Davies Gallery, 2 December 2022 – 5 March 2023
The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven 10 March – 4 June 2023
Carmarthenshire Museum, 8 September 2023 – 7 January 2024
2022
Between 2021–23 the National Gallery partnered with The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven; Carmarthenshire County Museum and Oriel Davies, Newtown, Powys to display one different masterpiece from our collection each year.
From 2021, for the first time in the Masterpiece Tour’s history, the partner venues were selected for a three-year period and the painting for 2021 and 2023 was chosen jointly by the partners and the National Gallery.
The second masterpiece to tour was Rembrandt's Saskia van Uylenburgh in Arcadian Costume.
Oriel Davies Gallery 12 March – 26 June 2022
The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven 24 September – 8 January 2023
Carmarthenshire Museum, 14 January – 23 April 2023
2021
Between 2021–23 the National Gallery partnered with The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven; Carmarthenshire County Museum and Oriel Davies, Newtown, Powys to display one different masterpiece from our collection each year.
From 2021, for the first time in the Masterpiece Tour’s history, the partner venues were selected for a three-year period and the painting for 2021 and 2023 were chosen jointly by the partners and the National Gallery.
The first masterpiece to tour was Chardin’s The House of Cards.
Oriel Davies Gallery 10 July – 25 September 2021
The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven 1 October – 23 January 2022
Carmarthenshire Museum 31 January – 1 May 2022
2020
The postponed National Gallery Masterpiece Tour 2020 saw Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas’s 'Hélène Rouart in her Father's Study', travel to the following venues:
Gallery Oldham 18 September 2021 – 8 January 2022
Glan-yr-afon/The Riverside 14 May – 3 September 2022
Kirkby Gallery 10 October – 17 December 2022
Supported by
2019
Nicolas Poussin’s 'The Triumph of Pan’, one the French master’s most intricate compositions, toured the UK in 2019–20 as part of the Masterpiece Tour. It travelled to the following venues:
Victoria Art Gallery, Bath 11 April – 7 July 2019
York Art Gallery 12 July – 22 September 2019
Auckland Castle 5 October 2019 – 5 January 2020
This opportunity to bring three hugely popular works to the public’s doorstep was made possible by the generous support of Christie’s.
2018
Hans Holbein the Younger’s A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling, a much-loved work from the National Gallery Collection, toured the UK in 2018–19 as part of the Masterpiece Tour. It travelled to the following venues:
The New Art Gallery Walsall 12 January – 22 April 2018
Shetland Museum & Archives 4 May – 15 July 2018
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery 13 October 2018 – 6 January 2019
This opportunity to bring three hugely popular works to the public’s doorstep was made possible by the generous support of Christie’s.
2016
From north to south, Rembrandt's Self Portrait at the Age of 63 , was displayed in Northern Ireland followed by Cumbria and the west country. It travelled to the following venues:
Ulster Museum, Belfast 15 January – 13 March 2016
Abbot Hall, Kendal 19 March – 15 May 2016
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery 21 May – 17 July 2016
2015
In 2015, the Masterpiece Tour saw Canaletto's A Regatta on the Grand Canal tour the UK. It travelled to the following venues:
Victoria Art Gallery, Bath 7 March – 3 May 2015
Compton Verney, Warwickshire 9 May – 21 June 2015
Sunderland Museums and Winter Gardens 11 July – 13 September 2015
2014
Manet's intriguing The Execution of Maximilian toured the UK in some of the earliest displays. It travelled to the following venues:
The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge, Canterbury Museums and Galleries 17 January - 16 March 2014
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle 22 March - 18 May 2014
Mead Gallery, University of Warwick 27 September - 6 December 2014