To mark its 200th anniversary in 2011, each month of the year Dulwich Picture Gallery, the oldest public art gallery in England, will exhibit a special masterpiece – on loan from museums around the world.
The Prado in Madrid, the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the British Royal Collection are among some of the museums that are lending out their paintings.
The rolling Masterpiece of the Month exhibit will showcase paintings by masters like Velázquez, Vermeer, El Greco, Veronese, Rembrandt, Ingres, Van Gogh, Gainsborough, Constable and Hockney.
Vincent Van Gogh’s "Self-portrait," Diego Velazquez’s "Don Sebastian de Morra" and David Hockney’s "Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy" are among the paintings on loan.
“Dulwich is recognized internationally as a really important museum in the history of museums," said gallery director Ian Dejardin. “So I felt able to go and visit and write to directors of major institutions that we’ve worked with over the years to suggest to them that they might like to lend what I suppose is a glorified birthday card.”