The Arts Society Haslemere invites you to a talk presented by Dr Jonathan Conlin. 

The talk is entitled THE NATION'S MANTLEPIECE: A HISTORY of the NATIONAL GALLERY in TEN PAINTINGS

Founded in 1824, the National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square houses one of the world's finest collections of European paintings, including such favourites as Jan Van Eyck's "Arnolfini Marriage", Sandro Botticelli's "Venus and Mars", John Constable's "Cornfield" and Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers". In contrast to its peers, however, this institution did not begin its life as a royal collection: the Gallery was founded by parliament and remains reliant on public funding. This lecture uses highlights from the NG's collection to show how our vision of the "ideal" art collection has evolved over time, along with ideas of the kinds of people the Gallery was supposed to serve.

Dr Conlin is a historian of British cultural history from c.1750 to the present, with a particular interest in the history of museums. He is The National Gallery’s authorised historian.

Arrive at 1.45pm for 2pm start.