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For over 200 years, the National Gallery has been responsible for the United Kingdom’s public collection of Western paintings. Entrusted to its care are some of the world’s most significant works, spanning eight centuries of history. The breadth and quality of the collection give the Gallery a unique responsibility to convey our shared human story in ways that inspire, educate and delight all who engage with it.
Founded by Act of Parliament in 1824, the Gallery was established on the principle of public ownership. Public access has therefore always been central to its identity and continues to underpin its work today. Now in its third century, the collection comprises just over 2,400 paintings housed on Trafalgar Square. What began as 38 works has grown into one of the world’s leading art collections, supported by around 500 staff across a wide range of specialist roles.
Under the Museum and Galleries Act 1992, the Gallery is governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Prime Minister, with the Director and Executive Committee representing departments covering all aspects of its work. To connect the collection with the widest possible audiences, the Gallery delivers extensive engagement programmes across the UK and internationally. Its learning offer spans all ages, from the Take One Picture programme for primary schools and the Articulation Prize for 16–19 year olds to a broad range of adult and further education provision. In 2024 alone, it engaged more than 18,000 school students and over 40,000 adult learners.
Future capacity has been strengthened through the new Roden Centre for Creative Learning, which since opening in February 2025 welcomed over 70,000 visitors by the end of the year. Alongside its permanent displays, the Gallery delivers a major exhibitions programme. Recent highlights include Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, its most successful ticketed exhibition to date with 334,589 visits, and the free exhibition The Last Caravaggio, which attracted 286,298 visitors.
The Gallery also undertakes extensive touring activity, including the Masterpiece Tour, National Treasures and Art on Your Doorstep, as well as international exhibitions such as Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London, which attracted 1.4 million visitors in Asia between 2023 and 2024. In 2025, the Gallery welcomed over 4.1 million visits to its London site, averaging more than 11,000 a day.
Following its bicentenary, the Gallery has committed to leaving a lasting legacy of national engagement. As it embarks on a major transformation of its Trafalgar Square site, including the second phase of its capital projects, a new wing, and a collecting policy extending to the present day through Project Domani, it remains dedicated to excellence in scholarship, public access and stewardship of the national collection for future generations.
The Gallery’s mission is built around three objectives: to care for the collection by ensuring works held in public trust are kept safe, regularly monitored and preserved in appropriate conditions; to enhance the collection for future generations, primarily through acquisition; and to study and share it by encouraging academic research, institutional exchange, sector-leading scholarship and the widest possible public access for education and enjoyment.
As the National Gallery enters its third century, exchanging insights and experience with peers is more important than ever. This is heightened by Project Domani, which will see the construction of a new wing and a major transformation of the public realm at one of London’s most visited sites. Membership of GCDN offers a vital forum to discuss and strengthen the relationship between people, culture and place, across this project and the Gallery’s wider work.