London's National Gallery has announced plans to build a major new extension that will nearly double its current exhibition space, funded by what officials say are the largest donations ever given to any cultural institution worldwide. The ambitious project, estimated to cost around $500 million, has already secured $470 million in funding through private donations, with the remainder expected to be raised before construction begins.
The centerpiece of this fundraising achievement includes two unprecedented donations of $185 million each, which Gallery Director Gabriele Finaldi describes as "the largest-ever known cash donations to any cultural institution, not just in Britain, but globally." These record-breaking contributions come from Michael Moritz's Crankstart foundation and the Hans and Julia Rausing Trust, marking a historic moment in museum philanthropy.
The new wing will be constructed on the site of St Vincent House, an unremarkable 1960s building located just north of the current Sainsbury Wing. St Vincent House, which currently houses a Thistle Hotel and other tenants, was purchased by the gallery in 1998 specifically to provide future expansion space and is now scheduled for demolition. The building sits along St Martin's Street, with plans to potentially shorten this little-used road to allow the new extension to connect directly with the existing Sainsbury Wing.
An international architectural competition will launch on September 12, with the gallery hoping to select a firm by March of next year. The winning design will need to create a distinctive, high-quality building that represents a significant architectural contribution to London while harmonizing with both the Sainsbury Wing and the original Wilkins Building. The project is also expected to improve pedestrian flow between the cultural areas of Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square.
Alongside the physical expansion, the National Gallery is making an equally significant change to its collection strategy by extending its acquisitions into the full 20th century. Previously, the gallery's collection ended around 1900, though it has occasionally acquired early 20th-century works since the 1990s. This expansion will be developed in collaboration with the Tate, which has traditionally collected international art from 1900 onward.
Finaldi envisions the 20th-century collection beginning with later French Impressionists and progressing through Picasso and Matisse, Italian Futurists, German Expressionists, Surrealists, American Abstract Expressionists, and works approaching the present day. This expansion will provide both chronological and geographical diversity, moving beyond the gallery's historically European focus to include global artistic developments.
The two primary donors bring impressive philanthropic backgrounds to this historic gift. Cardiff-born Michael Moritz, who now lives in San Francisco, built his fortune as a venture capitalist with Sequoia Capital, investing in major companies including Google, YouTube, and LinkedIn. After beginning his career as a journalist with Time magazine, Moritz has committed to giving away half his wealth to charitable causes through his Crankstart foundation, established with his wife Harriet Heyman. His previous donations include $94 million to Oxford University in 2012, and he has been a major supporter of the Lincoln Project, which campaigns against Donald Trump's political movement.
Hans Kristian Rausing inherited wealth from his family's stake in Tetra Pak, the Swedish food-packaging company. Together with his late second wife Julia Broughton, whom he met when she was a senior director at Christie's auction house, he established what is now called the Julia Rausing Trust. Julia passed away from cancer in April 2024, and Rausing stated that this gift is given "in her memory, so that others may discover the same beauty and inspiration in art that meant so much to her."
Both philanthropists have been recognized with knighthoods for their charitable contributions – Moritz in 2013 and Rausing in June of last year. The Rausing Trust has previously donated over $12.5 million to the National Gallery for various building projects, including the refurbishment of the museum's largest exhibition room.
Beyond the two major donors, the gallery has raised an additional $94 million from other sources, including contributions from the National Gallery Trust and gallery trustee chairman John Booth, who is personally contributing $12.5 million. This comprehensive fundraising effort demonstrates unprecedented support for museum expansion in the UK.
The new extension will feature two upper floors dedicated to the permanent collection, providing space equivalent to one and a half times the area currently occupied by early Renaissance paintings in the Sainsbury Wing. This expansion will allow the gallery to display up to 250 additional works that are currently in storage. The building will also house a temporary exhibition gallery approximately twice the size of the existing basement space in the Sainsbury Wing.
Ground floor and basement levels will accommodate public facilities and an energy center designed to provide more efficient power for the entire gallery complex. The current temporary exhibition space in the Sainsbury Wing's lower basement, which lacks natural light, may be repurposed to display works from the reserve collection – paintings of secondary importance currently kept in storage.
The project timeline indicates that architectural designs will take approximately one year to develop, followed by another year to secure planning permissions. St Vincent House demolition will precede construction, with the new wing expected to open in the early 2030s. This will make it the UK's largest museum building project since Tate Modern's $167 million opening in 2000 and its subsequent $325 million extension in 2016.
Visitor experience in the completed facility will follow a carefully planned chronological journey. Guests will continue entering through the Sainsbury Wing, beginning with early Renaissance works from around 1250. They will then proceed through the original Wilkins Building galleries, following artistic development through the 18th century before turning back in a horseshoe configuration that will eventually lead via a bridge into the new wing, where late 19th and 20th-century works will be displayed.
The collaboration with Tate regarding the 1900 collection boundary requires careful negotiation, with National Gallery officials hoping to reach an agreement by year's end. Tate Director Maria Balshaw expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, stating that "Tate looks forward to working closely with colleagues at the National Gallery on loans, curatorial and conservational expertise to support the development of their new displays." Trustees from both institutions have already held joint meetings and established a working group to enhance the national collection as a whole.
Finaldi emphasizes that the National Gallery will remain focused on paintings rather than expanding into sculpture or works on paper. With the inclusion of 20th-century works, he believes the institution will become "the world's most comprehensive paintings gallery, covering the story from its origins in the 1250s right up to now." The gallery director notes that the 1900 boundary appears increasingly artificial as time passes, particularly given that "painting becomes very exciting in the course of the 20th century."
Project Domani, as Finaldi has named the expansion, represents a forward-looking successor to the NG200 celebrations that commemorated the gallery's establishment in 1824. The 20th-century collection will be built through both acquisitions and loans, with acquisitions dependent on securing additional funding. To facilitate loans, Finaldi plans to approach estates of leading artists and increase exchanges with Tate and other institutions.
The National Gallery currently holds relatively few 20th-century works, with pieces like Claude Monet's "Water-Lilies, Setting Sun" (around 1907) representing rare examples from this period. The expansion into modern art will require significant curatorial expertise and conservation resources, areas where collaboration with Tate's extensive experience will prove valuable.
This unprecedented expansion positions the National Gallery to tell the complete story of Western painting from medieval times through the modern era, creating what may become the world's most comprehensive survey of painted art under one roof. The project represents not only a physical transformation of London's cultural landscape but also a philosophical evolution in how one of the world's great museums defines its mission and scope.
