The National Gallery at 200: is this rehang a bold relaunch or rinse and repeat?

The National Gallery has recently rehung its entire collection. Taking hundreds of paintings off the wall and replacing them in a new arrangement requires considerable mental and physical labour on the part of curators, conservators and technicians.

A rehang tends to elicit strong reactions from anyone with a stake in the collection – and in the case of a public gallery, “anyone” means “everyone”. Unsurprisingly then, it has only been done twice at the National Gallery since the second world war.

Last month, I attended a launch party for the gallery’s new Sainsbury Wing…

© La Conversation - mardi 10 juin 2025