#LondonPeachy #CulturedPeachy @NationalGallery THE DIRECTOR'S CHOICE: A NEW VIRTUAL EXHIBITION FOR 2021 – FROM 5 MAY
The Director's Choice
A new virtual exhibition for 2021 – from 5 May
When the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square closed its doors in March 2020 due to the worldwide pandemic, it quickly became apparent that, for a time, we had to become an online Gallery only – the nation’s gallery in the nation’s homes.
Many people still wanted to tour and explore the National Gallery, take solace in great art at this difficult time, but they had to do it virtually. Over the past 12 months our curators and educators - working with our digital team – have produced hundreds of films, talks, online courses and experimental content formats for our members, supporters and a rapidly growing online audience across the world. Before March 2020, we hadn’t hosted a single live event online, we’ve now done more than 500.
During the closure period, Director Dr Gabriele Finaldi wrote a weekly email exploring a picture of his choice from the Collection, which was sent to supporters to help them stay connected with the Gallery. These personal weekly messages proved hugely popular, and so now 20* of those works Gabriele selected have been brought together in an innovative virtual exhibition - The Director’s Choice - for everyone to enjoy online, for free.
The wonders of digital have enabled this unlikely and curious display of National Gallery masterpieces - from Giotto to Monet and Caravaggio to Turner. Online visitors can navigate themselves around the virtual gallery, zooming in close to explore the 3D images of the diverse works of art on display. Click on the panel next to the picture to listen to Gabriele’s audio guide that he has narrated for each painting; enjoy the anecdote and insight surrounding reptilian still-life props, Rococo fads and fashions, and things that are not quite what they seem. When viewing the gallery on mobile you can position the paintings in your own home with the augmented reality feature.
You can experience this unusual mix of artists and styles spanning more than 400 years of art history gathered together virtually online here https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/virtual-tours/the-directors-choice
The Director’s Choice exhibition is available from 5 May. The National Gallery – Government advice permitting – is planning to reopen its doors from 17 May, therefore it is hoped the launch of The Director’s Choice exhibition just a few days earlier will provide people with an ‘appetiser’ ahead of returning to see their paintings in real life.
National Gallery Director, Dr Gabriele Finaldi, says “There is an element of playfulness and even daring to this but it provides us the opportunity to explore how new digital technologies can broaden the range of approaches to experiencing our paintings. I hope people enjoy it.”
Lawrence Chiles, National Gallery Head of Digital Services, added “With our doors closed we have had to adapt and find new ways to bring the collection to the public. Technology like this offers exciting possibilities for creating digital experiences that can complement and broaden access to the Gallery and the work we do.”
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Image caption Detail from The Director’s Choice, created with Moyosa Media © National Gallery, London
*Paintings featured in The Director’s Choice virtual exhibition
Pentecost, Giotto and Workshop, probably about 1310–18
Richard II presented to the Virgin and Child by his Patron Saint John the Baptist and Saints Edward and Edmund ('The Wilton Diptych'), An unknown English of French (?) artist, about 1395–9
A Man in a Turban, Jan van Eyck, 1433
The Agony in the Garden, Andrea Mantegna, about 1455–6
The Entombment (or Christ being carried to his Tomb), Michelangelo, about 1500–1
Doge Leonardo Loredan, Giovanni Bellini, about 1501–2
Christ taking Leave of his Mother, Albrecht Altdorfer, probably 1520
Portrait of a Man, Catharina van Hemessen, 1552
Boy bitten by a Lizard, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, about 1594–5
Cup of Water and a Rose, Francisco de Zurbarán, about 1630
The Finding of Moses, Orazio Gentileschi, early 1630s
The Triumph of Pan, Nicolas Poussin, 1636
Belshazzar's Feast, Rembrandt, about 1636–8
A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, Vermeer, about 1670–2
Piazza San Marco and the Colonnade of the Procuratie Nuove, Canaletto, about 1756
The Painter's Daughters chasing a Butterfly, Thomas Gainsborough, probably about 1756
Self Portrait in a Straw Hat, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1782
The Evening Star, Joseph Mallord William Turner, about 1830
Avignon from the West, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, 1836
Snow Scene at Argenteuil, Claude Monet, 1875
The National Gallery has worked with Moyosa Media to create the Director’s Choice exhibition. Moyosa Media help clients reinvent themselves for a digitally enhanced world, in which time and place become irrelevant in order to experience brands in a fun and engaging way. They do that by designing & building digital experiences rooted in 3D technologies. They set out to challenge technical feasibility and to exceed expectations of what any digital experience can do to excite and engage people, and provide innovative concepts, based on maximizing fun, engagement, data capture and analytics. For more information, please visit: www.moyosamedia.com
