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 ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, 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 and the

Connemara Public Library * The Connemara Public Library at Egmore in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, is one of the four National Depository Libraries which receive a copy of all books, newspapers and periodicals published in India. Established in 1890, opened for public i ...

. Constructed with red stones sourced from

Satyavedu Satyavedu is a town in Tirupati district and was earlier part of the Chittoor district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It borders the state of Tamil Nadu on its southern part of the state and is located just 60 km north of the Chen ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, the Gallery was built in 1906 in

Indo-Saracenic architecture Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal) was a Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and gov ...

and houses paintings from

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, Kangra and

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

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. Sanda ...

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 January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

'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 (India), Institution of Engineers. He ...

. 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 paintings and rare works of

Raja Ravi Varma Raja Ravi Varma () (29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist. His works are one of the best examples of the fusion of European academic art with a purely Indian sensibility and iconography. Especially, he was notable f ...

. It also has various

Tanjore Painting Thanjavur painting is a classical South Indian painting style, originating 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 period when t ...

s. Portraits of various

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

officers such as Lord Connemara and

Lord William Bentinck Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 177417 June 1839), known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British military commander and politician who served as the governor of the Be ...

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), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...

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