Description of the attraction
The National Gallery (the full official name of the National Gallery is the Museum of Alexandros Sutsos) is an art museum in the city of Athens. This is one of the most interesting sights of the capital and one of the best museums in Greece.
The National Gallery was established in 1900 and its collection is based on 258 pieces of art donated by the University of Athens and the National Technical University. A year later, 107 more works of art from the collection of Alexandros Sutsos became the property of the gallery. In 1954, the National Gallery officially merged with the Museum of Painting of Alexandros Sutsos, receiving its current name - National Gallery - Museum of Alexandros Sutsos.
Over time, the gallery's collection has significantly increased, including thanks to donations from private collectors, among which the most significant, perhaps, was the gift of Euripides Kutlidis in the form of an impressive collection of paintings by Greek artists of the 19-20th centuries. In 1976, the gallery settled in its own specially built building for it at Michalakopoulou, 1. In 2004, on the initiative of the gallery director Marina Lambraki-Plaka, the National Glyptotek of Greece was created, which became home to the collection of sculptures by Greek masters previously displayed in the walls of the National Gallery 19 -21st centuries.
Today, the National Gallery's collection contains over 20,000 works of art, from the post-Byzantine period to the present day. Most of the collection is the work of Greek artists, including Yannis Tsarukhis, Spyros Papaloukas, Yannis Moralis, Konstantinos Maleas, Nikolaos Gisis, and many other talented artists. However, it should be noted that the gallery also presents a very impressive collection of works by European artists, including works by such eminent artists as El Greco, Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, Ivan Aivazovsky, Jacob Jordaens, Auguste Rodin, Peter Rubens, Albrecht Durer, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and etc.
In addition to the permanent exhibition, the National Gallery regularly hosts temporary exhibitions, specialized lectures and seminars, as well as various cultural events. The gallery has its own research laboratories and an excellent library that houses unique archival materials.
