National Gallery scoops award for Van Gogh show

The National Gallery has won an award for its recent Van Gogh exhibition, which attracted record numbers to the London museum.

Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, which opened on 14 September 2024 and closes next Monday, was judged Best Institutional Gallery Exhibition in the Critics’ Circle’s annual visual arts and architecture awards.

It was one of four awards presented at a ceremony, held at the National Gallery's Supporters’ House on Trafalgar Square.

The award was accepted by National Gallery director Gabriele Finaldi.  The Van Gogh show attracted 334,589 visits, making it the most popular ticketed exhibition in the National Gallery’s history.

The Best Commercial Gallery Exhibition was Notes on Water at Eames Fine Art. This was a a solo exhibition of works by the late visual artist Norman Ackroyd, who died shortly after the exhibition opened in 2024.

The Denise Silvester Carr Unsung Hero awards went to Tracy Jones, the founder of Brera PR. Jones, who combines her work at Brera PR with being the head of communications at the National Gallery, was recognised for her work promoting exhibitions in small and regional museums and galleries across the UK.

Clients include the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, Firstsite in Colchester, Hastings Contemporary, Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle, Petersfield Museum, the Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre in Buckinghamshire and Munnings Art Museum in Colchester.

The final award of the night went to artist Es Devlin for her contribution to the visual arts. Devlin was recognised for a body of work that spans art installation, stage design, publishing and exhibition making,

The Critics’ Circle is a network of professional critics. Its Visual Arts & Architecture Awards were established in 2007 and have been presented annually since 2011.