Creating a National Collection: The Partnership between Southampton City Art Gallery and the National Gallery

Creating a National Collection is the first exhibition to explore the unique relationship and influence the National Gallery has had on the evolution of Southampton’s collection. The historical links between the two galleries are significant, but little known. This fruitful relationship was established from the start, when Cllr Robert Chipperfield (1817–1911), whose bequest in 1911 led to the creation of the collection and the Art Gallery in Southampton, ensured that future acquisitions would be of a national calibre. Chipperfield had the foresight to stipulate that all purchases using his Trust fund should be undertaken in consultation with the Director of the National Gallery. Kenneth Clark, newly installed as the National Gallery’s Director in 1934 took a particularly active interest in advising Southampton on acquisitions and wrote its first formal collecting policy in 1936, which essentially remains in place today.

The exhibition will include outstanding works from Southampton, alongside the loan of 9 paintings from the National Gallery, by artists including Monet, Gainsborough, Maggi Hambling and Paula Rego.