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Women at the National Gallery – Victorian Housemaids

Women at the National Gallery – Victorian Housemaids

For the Gallery's first 89 years, women were only employed in one role at the National Gallery: Housemaids.
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François-Hubert Drouais’ 'Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame'

François-Hubert Drouais’ 'Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame'

Picture of the month October 2025

Amber Butchart asks, what can a dress tell us about politics 300 years ago?
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Women at the National Gallery – new jobs for women

Women at the National Gallery – new jobs for women

The creation of a whole new department in 1915, led to new opportunities for women working at the National Gallery.
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Why is Monet's simple scene important to modern landscape painting?

Why is Monet's simple scene important to modern landscape painting?

Associate Curator Chiara Di Stefano explains why Monet's simple picture of a branch of the River Seine is important
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Women at the National Gallery – Lena Laurie

Women at the National Gallery – Lena Laurie

The story of Lena Laurie shows that career advancement was limited for women at the Gallery in the twentieth century.
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Which famous faces are hidden in these mosaics?

Which famous faces are hidden in these mosaics?

Annabel Bai-Jackson takes a closer look at the history behind the Anrep mosaics and the vibrant stories they tell
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A new way to experience 700 years of art

A new way to experience 700 years of art

Our Director Sir Gabriele Finaldi and colleagues take us behind the scenes
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How does Rembrandt capture a king’s downfall?

How does Rembrandt capture a king’s downfall?

Art historian Matthew Morgan explains Rembrandt’s masterful storytelling
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[re]curated: Richard Hamilton - The Artist’s Eye

[re]curated: Richard Hamilton - The Artist’s Eye

Join Daniel F. Herrmann, Ardalan Curator for Modern and Contemporary Projects at the National Gallery and experts as they retell the story behind the exhibition and its paintings.  
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Jean-Siméon Chardin's The Young Schoolmistress

Jean-Siméon Chardin's The Young Schoolmistress

Picture of the month September 2025

As many head back to the classroom this month, delve into what a school lesson might have looked like in 18th-century France
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Behind the scenes in Conservation: ‘The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian’

Behind the scenes in Conservation: ‘The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian’

Are the paint dribbles and cracks meant to be there?

See the Pollaiuolo brothers’ painting in our conservation studio and hear from conservators about their work on this Florentine, 450-year-old oil painting.
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Savery's 'Orpheus'

Savery's 'Orpheus'

Picture of the month August 2025

Be transported to this unearthly scene with our 5-minute meditation
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10 reasons to visit 'Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists'

10 reasons to visit 'Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists'

Lose yourself in an unmissable display of harmonious colour and groundbreaking technique
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How did new pigment technologies drive the Impressionist movement?

How did new pigment technologies drive the Impressionist movement?

Art historian Evie Hatch looks at the innovative colour techniques used in Monet’s painting
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Juan de Zurbarán's Still Life with Lemons in a Wicker Basket

Juan de Zurbarán's Still Life with Lemons in a Wicker Basket

Picture of the month July 2025

Explore this vivid still life and the talented young artist who painted it
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How did this painting save its artist’s life?

How did this painting save its artist’s life?

Project Curator Maria Alambritis deciphers this intriguing painting by Parmigianino
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Chemistry of colour

Chemistry of colour

Gold

What is gold and what makes it so appealing to artists? Specialist Scientist and Organic Analyst Nelly von Aderkas and Frame Conservator Isabella Kocum tell us about the sparkly world of gold looking at Duccio's 'The Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Aurea'
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Caravaggio’s ‘Boy bitten by a Lizard’

Caravaggio’s ‘Boy bitten by a Lizard’

Picture of the month June 2025

Through a real-life recreation of Caravaggio’s ‘Boy bitten by a Lizard’, writer and performer Holly James Johnston explores some of the different interpretations this intriguing painting has inspired
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Behind the scenes in Conservation: The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret

Behind the scenes in Conservation: The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret

Talented and highly original - but who painted it?

Visit our Conservation studio and find out about this fascinating and mysterious altarpiece and what its conservation did (or did not) reveal
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Gainsborough's 'The Painter's Daughters with a Cat'

Gainsborough's 'The Painter's Daughters with a Cat'

Picture of the Month May 2025

Discover how Thomas Gainsborough honed his craft through this portrait of his beloved daughters
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14th-century Siena: The art that shaped the future

14th-century Siena: The art that shaped the future

Why did the city and its artists bring about such change in painting form and style?

Filmed on location in Siena and in the Gallery, curators, local experts and artists introduce us to the artists and their exquisite works
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Why do the colours of Jan Toorop's 'High Tide' remind us so much of Van Gogh?

Why do the colours of Jan Toorop's 'High Tide' remind us so much of Van Gogh?

Curatorial Fellow Sterre Overmars finds out why this painting is so reminiscent of works by Vincent van Gogh
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Savoldo's 'Mary Magdalene'

Savoldo's 'Mary Magdalene'

Picture of the month April 2025

Look beyond the dazzling silver shawl to discover the identity of this enigmatic woman
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Restoring Paolo Ucello's 'Battle of San Romano'

Restoring Paolo Ucello's 'Battle of San Romano'

Why should we not take Uccello's 'Battle of San Romano' at face value?

Join Conservator Paul Ackroyd and Curator Imogen Tedbury as they chat over the question.
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The Triumph of Art: Jeremy Deller and Mary Beard in conversation

The Triumph of Art: Jeremy Deller and Mary Beard in conversation

Watch artist Jeremy Deller and classicist Mary Beard discuss the act of commemoration
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Jesse Jones on Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo's 'Mary Magdalene'

Jesse Jones discusses Savoldo's enigmatic painting in the light of her own expanded cinema practice
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Delaroche's 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey'

Delaroche's 'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey'

Picture of the month March 2025

What links a female sculptor to this popular scene from British history?
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Why did Cezanne change his mind when painting ‘Bathers’?

Why did Cezanne change his mind when painting ‘Bathers’?

Seeing ‘Bathers’ without its frame, raises both insights and questions about this large scale work from the end of Cezanne’s career.
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Monet's 'Bathers at La Grenouillère'

Monet's 'Bathers at La Grenouillère'

Picture of the month February 2025

What do schoolchildren think of Monet’s ‘Bathers at La Grenouillère’, and what do they want to know?
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Ed Fornieles on Titian's 'Bacchus and Ariadne’

The interdisciplinary artist talks about how and why Titian's painting has meaning for him today.
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Fiona Douglas-Home: The first Photographic Archivist at the National Gallery

Fiona Douglas-Home: The first Photographic Archivist at the National Gallery

From listening to Myra Hess during the Second World War to working in the Photographic Department and marrying a colleague, she has woven the Gallery into the fabric of her life.
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Behind the scenes in Conservation: Nicolas Poussin: The painter's painter

Behind the scenes in Conservation: Nicolas Poussin: The painter's painter

Why is this such an important painting in Nicolas Poussin's career?

Visit our Conservation studio and find out about the painting and what its conservation revealed.
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Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 'The Adoration of the Kings'

Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 'The Adoration of the Kings'

Picture of the month January 2025

Delve into this sacred moment, filled with curious characters
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Paintings popping up in culture

Paintings popping up in culture

10 times the Gallery and its collection have popped up in culture

Isn't that a National Gallery painting? Find out which works have appeared in culture, from TV shows to album covers.
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Behind the scenes in Conservation

Behind the scenes in Conservation

Restoring rays of light and angels' wings in ‘The Nativity at Night’

Conservator Jill Dunkerton tells us about the meticulous conservation of one of our favourite nativity scenes.
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Behind the scenes in Conservation

Behind the scenes in Conservation

Painting with wax? Restoring Joshua Reynolds’s portrait of the Earl and Countess of Ely

Curators and conservators explain why Reynolds's marriage portrait presented such a challenging conservation project.
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Dexter Dalwood

Dexter Dalwood talks about his relationship to English painting and its history.
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Uncovering the secrets underneath Orazio’s ‘Finding of Moses’

Uncovering the secrets underneath Orazio’s ‘Finding of Moses’

Track the journey that Orazio Gentileschi's epic painting ‘The Finding of Moses’ went on in the Gallery's Conservation studio.
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Ring's 'Road in the Village of Baldersbrønde (Winter Day)'

Ring's 'Road in the Village of Baldersbrønde (Winter Day)'

Picture of the month December 2024

Step into a snowy scene with Gallery Educator Bethan Durie
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Why do artists paint young women looking into mirrors?

Why do artists paint young women looking into mirrors?

Associate Curator Sarah Herring explores the theme of young women looking into mirrors in art.
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Katrina Palmer, National Gallery Artist in Residence 2024

Katrina Palmer shares her interest in the visible and invisible activities that take place in the Gallery.
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Holbein's 'Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan'

Holbein's 'Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan'

Picture of the month November 2024

Researcher Hannah Rogers travels back in time to our 'Picture of the month' from November 1943, and tells the story of how the series started during the Second World War
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Liss's 'Judith in the Tent of Holofernes'

Liss's 'Judith in the Tent of Holofernes'

Michael Ohajuru takes a closer look at this violent scene
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Claude's 'Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba'

Claude's 'Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba'

Picture of the month October 2024

Melissa Baksh shares her thoughts on depictions of the Queen of Sheba in artworks throughout history
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The Director's favourite paintings

The Director's favourite paintings

Throughout the month of September, we are celebrating our Membership scheme’s 10th Anniversary. To mark this moment we asked our Director, Gabriele Finaldi, to select 10 of his favourite paintings from an unmatched collection of over 2,400 works.
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Richard Wilson's 'The Valley of the Dee, with Chester in the Distance'

Richard Wilson's 'The Valley of the Dee, with Chester in the Distance'

Picture of the month September 2024

Curator Mary McMahon and Conservation Fellow Maria Carolina Peña-Mariño discuss the challenge of restoring Richard Wilson's painting 'The Valley of the Dee, with Chester in the Distance'
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Seeing Caravaggio in a new light

Seeing Caravaggio in a new light

Anne Stewart, Curator of Art at Ulster Museum explores Caravaggio's use of light in his paintings.
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Henri Rousseau's 'Surprised!'

Henri Rousseau's 'Surprised!'

Picture of the month August 2024

Find out what primary school children made of this year's Take One Picture painting.
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How a Canaletto painting found refuge in Wales

How a Canaletto painting found refuge in Wales

The National Library of Wales welcomes back Canaletto’s masterpiece 'The Stonemason’s Yard' after having taken refuge there over 80 years ago.
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Artemisia Gentileschi in the mirror

Artemisia Gentileschi in the mirror

Artist Jesse Jones discusses her response to Artemisia Gentileschi’s ‘Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria’.
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The Triumph of Art: Ed Hall in conversation

The Triumph of Art: Ed Hall in conversation

Celebrated banner maker Ed Hall in conversation with Imogen Tedbury, our Curator of Italian Paintings before 1500
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[Re]curated: Lucian Freud - The Artist’s Eye

[Re]curated: Lucian Freud - The Artist’s Eye

Step back in time to 1987 and experience ‘The Artist’s Eye’ – an exhibition personally curated by artist Lucian Freud – through a virtual recreation.
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Bob and Roberta Smith on Turner's 'Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway'

Bob and Roberta Smith talks about his, and his artist father's, love of both Turner and of the Great Western Railway.
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Why did Rosa Bonheur hide herself in this painting?

Why did Rosa Bonheur hide herself in this painting?

Find out about the trailblazing artist behind 'The Horse Fair'
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Berthe Morisot's 'Summer's Day'

Berthe Morisot's 'Summer's Day'

Picture of the month July 2024

Take in the sunshine of Paris's Bois de Boulogne with Morisot's summer scene
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Rana Begum on Turner's, 'Ulysses deriding Polyphemus - Homer's Odyssey'

Rana Begum relates to ideas and themes in Turner's mythical scene
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Canaletto's 'London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh'

Canaletto's 'London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh'

Picture of the month June 2024

Find out how Canaletto has inspired contemporary jewellery and garden designers.
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Alexis Teplin on Paul Cezanne’s 'Hillside in Provence'

Alexis Teplin talks about her work and Paul Cezanne’s 'Hillside in Provence'
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What makes 'The Wilton Diptych' so unique?

What makes 'The Wilton Diptych' so unique?

Curator Emma Capron and Conservator Britta New, discuss the puzzling work behind 'The Wilton Diptych' which makes it one of the most intriguing artworks in the world.
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Why did Queen Charlotte not like this portrait of herself?

Why did Queen Charlotte not like this portrait of herself?

Dear gentle reader, we note that Queen Charlotte despised this portrait of herself. As Bridgerton returns to our screens with season three, pray watch curator Jon King as he recounts the story behind this portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Sharon Walters on Francisco de Zurbarán's 'Saint Margaret of Antioch'

Artist Sharon Walters talks about her work with portraiture and images of women in relation to Francisco de Zurbarán's 'Saint Margaret of Antioch'
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Piero della Francesca's 'The Baptism of Christ'

Piero della Francesca's 'The Baptism of Christ'

Picture of the month May 2024

In celebration of our 200th birthday, Director Gabriele Finaldi has picked one of his favourite works in the collection.
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Chemistry of colour

Chemistry of colour

Ultramarine

Follow the journey of one of the most celebrated and sought-after pigments in art.
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Behind the scenes in Conservation

Behind the scenes in Conservation

Britta New shows how science and new technology improve our understanding of the changes that were made to Rubens's 'Judgement of Paris' over its lifetime.
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Michelangelo's 'The Entombment'

Michelangelo's 'The Entombment'

Picture of the month April 2024

Why would Michelangelo leave a work unfinished? Courses and Events Programmer Caroline Miller and Gallery Educator Bethan Durie investigate with a close look at 'The Entombment'
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Unexpected views

Unexpected views

Jananne Al-Ani on Egbert van der Poel's 'A View of Delft after the Explosion of 1654'

Artist Jananne Al-Ani talks about the interesting parallels she found between this small painting, a relatively new find for her in the collection, and her own research
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Is there engineering in art?

Is there engineering in art?

Rob Bell from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers asks the question is there engineering in art? There may be art in engineering but is there engineering in art? Rob looks for the answer in Turner's 'Rain, Steam and Speed' and 'Dutch Boats in a Gale'
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Alexandrine-Emilie Brongniart

Alexandrine-Emilie Brongniart

Picture of the month March 2024

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we take a closer look at a charming portrait by one of the most popular female artists in the collection, Elisabeth Louise Vigée le Brun
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The Linbury Lecture 2023

The Linbury Lecture 2023

Annabelle Selldorf

Annabelle Selldorf, the founding principal of New York City-based Selldorf Architects delivers the 2023 lecture, exploring the relationship of architecture to art in museum settings
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The myth and image of Narcissus

The myth and image of Narcissus

Picture of the month February 2024

Narcissus's tale of tragic beauty and forbidden desire has long inspired artists. Through images from the Renaissance to today, Holly James Johnston explores how the myth has particularly resonated with queer artistic and literary circles
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Why is this picture painted in black and white?

Why is this picture painted in black and white?

Dr Francesca Whitlum-Cooper asks what are we really looking at here? What clues lie in this black and white picture? Could this painting be pretending to be something else?
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Meindert Hobbema's 'The Avenue at Middelharnis'

Meindert Hobbema's 'The Avenue at Middelharnis'

Picture of the month January 2024

Start the year with a mindful look at this Dutch landscape, guided by Lucia van der Drift
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Artists on Artists

Artists on Artists

Volker Hermes and Peter Brathwaite

Artists Peter Brathwaite and Volker Hermes on Frans Hals, creating character, and the 'Joan Collins of Haarlem'
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Behind the scenes in Conservation

Behind the scenes in Conservation

A closer look at Pesellino

Marvel at Pesellino's mastery of gold and silver in the newly restored 'Story of David' panels and follow the clues that suggest the panels were owned by the Medici family
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Fra Filippo Lippi's 'The Annunciation'

Fra Filippo Lippi's 'The Annunciation'

Picture of the month December 2023

Curatorial Fellow Nicholas Flory takes a look at the details in Lippi's painting of the Archangel Gabriel with Mary – the painting voted your picture of the month
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Pauline Matthews' legacy gift

Pauline Matthews' legacy gift

Memories of the Gallery and Manod

Suzanne Bosman tells the story of Pauline Matthews OBE, whose father helped to secure the safety of the Gallery’s paintings during the Second World War
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Behind the scenes

Find out what happens behind closed doors in this series of films that look at how we care for and conserve our paintings.

Go behind the scenes in Conservation.

Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists

Connect the dots and learn about the world's greatest Neo-Impressionists and the visionary woman who championed them, Helene Kröller-Müller.

Watch our films

Women artists in the collection

Trailblazers and rule-breakers; discover some of the female artists in the collection including Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun and Rosa Bonheur.

Learn more about women in the collection.

One painting, many voices

From wondering if tigers go to the dentist to pondering why Mrs Andrews looks unamused, find out how one painting can mean very different things to different people.

Discover one painting, many voices.

See the bigger picture

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