The National Art Gallery situated in

Egmore Egmore is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. Situated on the northern banks of the Coovum River, Egmore is an important residential area as well as a commercial and transportation hub. The Egmore Railway Station was the main terminus of the Madr ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, is one of the oldest art galleries in India. It is located in the Government Museum Complex on Pantheon Road,

, which also houses the

Government Museum Government Museum may refer to: * Government Museum, Chennai * Government Museum, Karur * Government Museum (Bangalore) * Government Museum, Mathura * Government Museum, Tiruchirappalli * Cuddalore Government Museum * Government Museum, Pudukko ...

and the Connemara Public Library. Constructed with red stones sourced from Satyavedu in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, the Gallery was built in 1906 in Indo-Sarsenic architecture and houses paintings from

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, Kangra and Deccan areas, as well as

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

sculptures. The Gallery has remained closed since 2002, as part of the structure suffered damage.

History

The National Art Gallery was built during the celebration of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's Golden Jubilee in Indo-Saracenic style, designed by architect

Henry Irwin Henry Irwin (24 January 1841 – 5 August 1922) was an architect of British India. He is mainly known for his works in Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. He was a member of the Institution of Engineers. He was awarded a CIE in the 1888 B ...

. The Gallery has been identified as a Heritage site by the CMDA. As of 2002 the gallery has been closed for tourists, due to several building flaws and structural instability, which triggered severe criticism from art critics.

Features

The gallery contains several

Mugul The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

paintings and rare works of

Raja Ravi Varma Raja Ravi Varma ( ml, രാജാ രവിവർമ്മ; 29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist. He is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. His works are one of the best examples ...

. It also has various

Tanjore Painting Thanjavur painting is a classical South Indian painting style, which was inaugurated from the town of Thanjavur (anglicized as Tanjore) in Tamil Nadu. The art form draws its immediate resources and inspiration from way back about 1600 AD, a per ...

s. Portraits of various British officers such as

Lord Connemara Robert Bourke, 1st Baron Connemara, (; ; ; ; 11 June 1827 – 3 September 1902) was a British Conservative politician and colonial administrator who served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1874–80, 1885–86) and Governor of ...

and

Lord William Bentinck Lieutenant General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 177417 June 1839), known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman who served as the Governor of Fort William (Bengal) from 1828 to 1834 and the First G ...

are also present. The art gallery also included numerous miniature paintings depicting court and battle scenes.

Restoration

In 2013, the Gallery was set for a major face lift with Chief Minister

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

allocating 110 million for repairs and forming an expert committee for its restoration. In 2019, renovation of the Gallery began at a cost of 110 million. After renovation, it will have 200 unique exhibits on display, including paintings of Ravi Varma, sandalwood artefacts, ivory objects, miniature artefacts, Tanjore paintings, Rajput paintings and traditional paintings from across India.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Art Gallery (Chennai) Art museums and galleries in India Buildings and structures in Chennai Museums in Chennai Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture Heritage sites in Chennai

History

Features

Restoration

See also

References

External links