The collection during wartime

Step behind the scenes of the Gallery during the Second World War on this virtual guided tour.

From the Blitz and the evacuation of the collection to the Manod quarry in Wales, to the vital roles played by Kenneth Clark and Winston Churchill, discover the Gallery’s surprising links to Britain in wartime.

Hear about the Monuments Men, the dramatic rescue stories of two paintings, Myra Hess’s famous lunchtime concerts, the symbolism of the Anrep mosaics and unexpected tales of Soviet espionage involving the collection and even the Royal Family.

This is an online guided talk, based on a past Members’ Gallery tour with award-winning Blue Badge Guide Martin Brown. Join us after-hours from the comfort of home, and see the Gallery through the lens of wartime Britain.

Martin Brown is a qualified art historian in History of Art and Architecture. As an award-winning Blue Badge Guide experienced in guiding in National Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, Brown is passionate about the Gallery’s collection. Before retraining as a Blue Badge Guide, Brown worked for 30 years in education. Firstly, as a teacher of French and German in London secondary schools, and for the last 10 years as Head Teacher of a large Secondary School. In addition, Brown has worked as a Secondary School Improvement Adviser for a local authority, for OFSTED as an Inspector and for the Department for Education as a National Leader of Education.

A recording of this event will be made available to all ticket holders in the days following the event.

This recording will be available for one month.

Automatic closed captioning is available for this event.