View source for National Museum Cardiff

{{distinguish|Museum of Cardiff}}
{{Short description|Museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox museum
| name = National Museum Cardiff
| native_name = Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd
| logo = 
| image = Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd.JPG
| caption = Façade of the National Museum Cardiff
| map_type = Cardiff
| map_caption = Location in central [[Cardiff]]
| map_dot_label = National Museum Cardiff
| latitude = 
| former_name = 
| established = {{start date and age|1912}}
| location = [[Cathays Park]], [[Cardiff]] CF10 3NP, Wales
| coordinates = {{coord|51.4858|-3.1773|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| type = 
| visitors = 472,544 (2015)
| publictransit = [[Cathays railway station|Cathays]] [[File:Aiga railtransportation 25.svg|10px]]<br />[[Cardiff Bus]] 27 [[File:Aiga bus.svg|10px]]
| website = {{url|https://museum.wales/cardiff/}}
| pushpin_map = Wales Cardiff Central
| imagesize = 250
}}

'''National Museum Cardiff''' ({{langx|cy|Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd}}), formerly known as the '''National Museum of Wales''', is a museum and [[art gallery]] in [[Cardiff]], Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of [[Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales]]. Entry is kept free by a grant from the [[Welsh Government]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museum.wales/cardiff/about/|title=Highlights|website=National Museum Wales}}</ref> In February 2025 the museum announced a temporary closure due to maintenance funding issues.

==History==
The National Museum of Wales was founded in 1905, with its [[royal charter]] granted in 1907.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://museum.wales/freedom-of-information/|title=Freedom of Information|website=Museum Wales}}</ref> Part of the bid for [[Cardiff]] to obtain the National Museum for Wales included the gift of the Cardiff Museum Collection, then known as "Welsh Museum of Natural History, Archaeology and Art," which was formally handed over in 1912. The Cardiff Museum was sharing the building of [[Old Library, Cardiff|Cardiff Library]], and was a sub-department of the library until 1893. Construction of a new building in the civic complex of [[Cathays Park]] began in 1912, but owing to the [[First World War]] it did not open to the public until 1922, with the official opening taking place in 1927. The architects were [[Arnold Dunbar Smith]] and Cecil Brewer, although the building as it now stands is a heavily truncated version of their design.

The sculpture scheme for the building was devised by Sir [[W. Goscombe John]] and consisted of the groups ''Prehistoric Period'' and ''Classic Period'' by [[Gilbert Bayes]] as well as ''Learning'', ''Mining'', and ''Shipping'' by [[Thomas J Clapperton]], ''Art'' by [[Bertram Pegram]], ''Medieval Period'' by [[Richard Garbe]], ''Music'' by [[David Evans (sculptor)|David Evans]], and others. [[D. Arthur Thomas]] was commissioned to produce a model for the dragons, and A. Bertram Pegram to produce a model for the lions that were placed around the base of the dome.

==Present==
The museum has collections of [[botany]], [[Fine art|fine]] and [[applied art]], [[geology]], and [[zoology]]. [[Archaeology]] has been moved to the [[St Fagans National Museum of History]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://museum.wales/cardiff/about/|title=Highlights - National Museum Cardiff|website=Museum Wales}}</ref>

In 2011, with funding from the [[Charles Clore|Clore Duffield Foundation]], the former Glanely Gallery was transformed into the '''Clore Discovery Centre''', which offers hands-on exploration of the museum's 7.5&nbsp;million items that are normally in storage, including insects, [[fossil]]s and [[Bronze Age]] weapons. School groups, formal and informal groups can also be accommodated but should book in advance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/cardiff/clore/|title=Clore Discovery Centre National Museum Wales|publisher=museumwales.ac.uk|access-date=23 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622143411/http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/cardiff/clore|archive-date=22 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Between 2022-2024 internal management disputes between the-then president of the museum, Roger Lewis, who had formerly run the [[Welsh Rugby Union]], and the-then director-general, David Anderson, saw both leave the museum.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-67369391|title=Museum Wales: Bullying row over ex-WRU boss cost taxpayers £600,000|work=[[BBC Wales]]|date=9 November 2023|access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref> The handling of the dispute, which concluded with a settlement to Mr Anderson of £325,000, with legal bills bringing the total cost to the [[Senedd]] of over £600,000, drew criticism from [[Audit Wales]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.audit.wales/sites/default/files/publications/National_Museum_Wales_Governance_arrangements_relating_to_an_employment_dispute_at_Amgueddfa_Cymru_English.pdf|title=Governance arrangements relating to an employment dispute at Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales|publisher=[[Audit Wales]]|date=November 2023|access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2023/12/senedd-scrutinises-620000-employment-dispute-at-amgueddfa-cymru/|first=Geraldine|last=Kendall Adams|title=Senedd scrutinises £620,000 employment dispute at Amgueddfa Cymru|work=Museums Association|date=5 December 2023|access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref>

===Black Lives Matter movement===
Following the removal of the [[Statue of Edward Colston]] in Bristol on 6 June 2020, [[Wales Online]] reported on a similar campaign to remove monuments to [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] Sir [[Thomas Picton]], a Welsh soldier, in [[Carmarthen]] and Cardiff.<ref name=WalesJun20>{{Cite news |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/picton-carmarthen-cardiff-black-lives-18382570 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609172458/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/picton-carmarthen-cardiff-black-lives-18382570 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 June 2020 |title=Monuments to brutal slave owner Thomas Picton in Carmarthen and Cardiff 'should be removed' |author=Robert Harries and Alex Seabrook |date=9 June 2020 |work=[[Wales Online]] |access-date=9 June 2020}}</ref> While Picton was revered as a hero in the 19th century after dying at the [[Battle of Waterloo]], the most senior [[British Army]] officer to lose his life, his previous record as governor of [[Trinidad]] was controversial even at the time, and saw him convicted of widespread abuse of the island's population, including the use of torture.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|last=Prior|first=Neil|date=2015-06-18|title=Waterloo's hero and villain|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-33110128|access-date=4 February 2025|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725212933/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-33110128|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Portrait of tyrant Thomas Picton moved to side room in Welsh museum |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/aug/01/portrait-of-tyrant-thomas-picton-moved-to-side-room-in-welsh-museum |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=1 August 2022 |access-date=4 February 2025 |archive-date=1 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801114428/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/aug/01/portrait-of-tyrant-thomas-picton-moved-to-side-room-in-welsh-museum |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|Although Picton subsequently had the conviction reversed on a technicality, his brutality was well-known; the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] describing him as "a rough foul-mouthed devil as ever lived".<ref name="auto"/>}}  In November 2021, the museum removed a 19th-century portrait of Sir Thomas by Sir [[Martin Archer Shee]] and replaced it with a painting of a Welsh gardener by [[Albert Houthuesen]]. The museum commissioned artists to re-examine the legacy of Sir Thomas.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cardiff museum takes down slave owner Thomas Picton's portrait|work=[[BBC Wales]]|date=3 November 2021|access-date=4 February 2025|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59139743}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Reframing Picton project |publisher=[[Amgueddfa Cymru]]|url=https://museum.wales/about-us/Black-lives-matter/reframing-picton/ |access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref>

===Closure===
The museum has experienced severe funding difficulties for most of the 2020s and in 2024 its chief executive expressed concern that it may be forced to close as a result of a lack of funding for maintenance repairs necessary to keep the building safe for visitors and staff.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2024/04/warning-over-closure-of-sites-as-museum-wales-grapples-with-budget-cut/|first=Grealdine|last=Kendall Adams|title=Warning over closure of sites as Museum Wales grapples with budget cut|work=Museums Association|date=16 April 2024|access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref> [[Lesley Griffiths]], then [[Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice (Wales)|Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice (Wales)]], refuted this claim, giving an assurance that the "National Museum is not closing".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crgyxrrkglxo|first=Elliw|last=Gwawr|title=National Museum will not shut, minister promises|work=[[BBC Wales]]|date=17 April 2024|access-date=3 February 2025}}</ref> In early February 2025 the museum announced a "temporary closure" due to "building maintenance and health and safety concerns".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgxy4yx452o|first1=Mark|last1=Palmer|first2=Eleri|last2=Griffiths|title=National museum shuts for maintenance work|work=[[BBC Wales]]|date=3 February 2025|access-date=3 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/national-museum-cardiff-shuts-suddenly-30918886?int_source=nba|first=Robert|last=Dalling|title=National Museum Cardiff shuts suddenly until further notice|work=[[Wales Online]]|date=2 February 2025|access-date=3 February 2025}}</ref> The museum reopened on 7 February 2025,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkepdkzygyo|first=David|last=Deans|title=National Museum to reopen after mechanical fault|work=[[BBC Wales]]|date=6 February 2025|access-date=10 February 2025}}</ref> but the closure prompted media discussion regarding the levels of Senedd funding for cultural and historic buildings and events.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/10/wales-cuts-culture-language-history-nation-funding|first=Will|last=Hayward|title=Wales is the land of song. Now it’s being silenced by cuts that threaten our culture|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=10 February 2025|access-date=10 February 2025}}</ref>

==National Museum of Art==
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 | image1    = National Museum of Wales 20171208 113751 (49363925002).jpg
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 | caption1  = The central area of the Museum 
 | image2    = National Museum of Wales 20171208 115410 (49363918297).jpg
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 | caption2  = Gallery 4 (Art in 18th century Britain)<ref>{{cite web|title=Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain|url=https://museum.wales/cardiff/art/historic/18th-century-britain/|access-date=12 May 2023|publisher=Museumwales.ac.uk}}</ref>
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The National Museum of Art opened in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Museum of Art &#124; National Museum Wales|url=http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/3357/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515233807/http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/3357/|archive-date=15 May 2012|access-date=1 June 2012|publisher=Museumwales.ac.uk}}</ref> The collection of [[Old Master]] paintings in Cardiff includes, among other notable works, ''The Virgin and Child between Saint Helena and St Francis'' by [[Amico Aspertini]], ''The Poulterer's Shop'' by [[Frans Snyders]], ''A Calm'' by [[Jan van de Cappelle]]<ref>[https://museum.wales/art/online/?action=show_item&item=320 A Calm - Jan van de Cappelle] at the National Museum Wales</ref> Since 2016, the museum has had [[Rembrandt]]'s 1657 ''[[Portrait of Catharina Hooghsaet]]'' on permanent display.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-35963287 £35m Rembrandt painting goes on show in Cardiff] via the BBC</ref> In 2019, a painting depicting the Madonna and Child with a Pomegranate, which was thought to be a late copy by a lesser artist of a lost work by [[Sandro Botticelli]] featured on the television programme ''[[Britain's Lost Masterpieces]]'' where, after conservation treatment by [[Simon Rollo Gillespie|Simon Gillespie]] and research by [[Bendor Grosvenor]], it was confirmed to be from the studio of Botticelli, with parts by the master himself.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Brown|first1=Mark|title=Botticelli 'copy' in Welsh museum is genuine, experts say|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/13/botticelli-copy-in-welsh-museum-is-genuine-experts-say |location=The Guardian|date=13 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Passino|first1=Carla|title=Botticelli ‘copy’ in a Welsh museum turns out to be the real thing worth tens of millions|location=Country Life|date=14 November 2019|url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/botticelli-copy-welsh-museum-turns-real-thing-worth-millions-207725}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Pes|first1=Javier|title=A Museum in Wales Had a Botticelli Right Under Their Noses and Didn’t Realize It Until This Helpful TV Art Detective Told Them|location=Artnet News|date=14 November 2019 |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/botticelli-bbc-show-1703712}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Pryor|first1=Riah|title=Thanks to a doodle, experts now say unattributed painting is by Botticelli|location=The Art Newspaper|date=15 November 2019|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/amp/news/a-botticelli-reborn|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804192633/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/amp/news/a-botticelli-reborn|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A collection of landscape paintings in the classical tradition includes works by [[Claude Lorrain|Claude]], [[Gaspard Dughet]], [[Salvator Rosa]] and two works by [[Nicolas Poussin]]: ''[[The Funeral of Phocion]]'' (1648) and ''The Finding of Moses'' (the latter owned jointly by the Museum and the [[National Gallery]], London). These works prefigure the career of the Welsh-born [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]], called "the father of British landscape painting". In 1979 four cartoons for tapestries illustrating scenes from the ''[[Aeneid]]'' were bought as works by [[Peter Paul Rubens]], but the attribution is now disputed.

There is a gallery devoted to British patronage of the 18th century, in particular that of Sir [[Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, 4th Baronet|Watkin Williams Wynn]]. Included is a portrait of Williams-Wynn in Rome with fellow Tourists by [[Pompeo Batoni]], one of his second wife by Sir [[Joshua Reynolds]] and his [[Organ (music)|chamber organ]] designed by [[Robert Adam]]. Other paintings of note from this period is a portrait of Viscountess Elizabeth Bulkeley of [[Beaumaris, Anglesey|Beaumaris]] as the mythological character [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]], by the 'sublime and terrible' [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]], and [[Johann Zoffany]]'s group portrait of Henry Knight, a [[Glamorgan]] landowner, with his children.

[[File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 089.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[La Parisienne (Renoir painting)|La Parisienne]]'' by [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], 1874, of the model [[Henriette Henriot]] is one of the National Museum's most popular works]]

The collection of [[French art]] assembled by [[Margaret Davies|Margaret]] and [[Gwendoline Davies]], granddaughters of the wealthy industrialist [[David Davies (industrialist)|David Davies]] bequeathed to the National Museum in the 1950s and 1960s, make Wales's National Gallery one of international standing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://museum.wales/cardiff/art/impressionist-modern/davies-sisters/|title=The Davies Sisters - Impressionist and Modern Art Cardiff|website=Museum Wales}}</ref> It includes the largest group of paintings by [[Honoré Daumier]] in the world and the most important by [[Jean-François Millet]] in Britain. Works by [[Claude Monet]] include Venetian scenes such as ''[[San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk]]'' and examples from his ''[[Rouen Cathedral (Monet)|Rouen Cathedral]]'' and ''[[Water Lilies]]'' series. [[Post-Impressionism]] is represented by [[Vincent van Gogh|Van Gogh's]] late work ''Rain at [[Auvers-sur-Oise|Auvers]]'', and by [[Paul Cézanne]]'s ''The François Zola Dam'', the first painting by the artist to be displayed in a British public collection. The two most famous works in the Davies Sisters' collection are ''[[La Parisienne (Renoir painting)|La Parisienne]]'' by [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]] (1874), exhibited in the [[First Impressionist Exhibition]], and a version of [[Auguste Rodin|Rodin's]] ''[[The Kiss (Rodin sculpture)|Kiss]]'' cast in [[bronze]].

The art gallery has works by all of the notable [[Welsh art]]ists, including landscapes by [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=National Museum Wales acquires rare Richard Wilson portrait|url=https://www.artfund.org/blog/2017/07/07/national-museum-wales-acquires-rare-richard-wilson-portrait|website=Art Fund|language=en|access-date=2020-05-03|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804073826/https://www.artfund.org/blog/2017/07/07/national-museum-wales-acquires-rare-richard-wilson-portrait|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the pioneering [[Thomas Jones (artist)|Thomas Jones]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thomas Jones, Pencerrig {{!}} The National Library of Wales|url=https://www.library.wales/discover/digital-gallery/manuscripts/early-modern-period/thomas-jones-pencerrig|website=www.library.wales|access-date=2020-05-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Bard - JONES, Thomas|url=https://museum.wales/art/online?action=show_item&item=1154|website=National Museum Wales|language=en|access-date=2020-05-03}}</ref> There is a considerable body of work by [[John Gibson (sculptor)|John Gibson]], [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria's]] favourite sculptor, and major paintings by [[Augustus John]] and his sister [[Gwen John]], including the former's famous image of [[Dylan Thomas]]. [[Ceri Richards]] is well represented. The artistic output of [[David Jones (poet)|David Jones]] is well represented, but seldom on display owing to the fragile nature of his works on paper. Wales's most prominent contemporary painter, Sir [[Kyffin Williams]] (1918–2006), also features in the collection.

The collection of 20th-century art includes works by sculptors [[Jacob Epstein]], [[Herbert Ward (sculptor)|Herbert Ward]] and [[Eric Gill]] and painters including [[Stanley Spencer]], the British Impressionist [[Wynford Dewhurst]], [[L. S. Lowry]], and [[Oskar Kokoschka]].{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} Works by contemporary artists are on rotational display, including those by [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]], [[Frank Auerbach]] and [[Rachel Whiteread]]. [[Pablo Picasso]]'s ''[[Nature morte au poron]]'' was acquired in 2009.<ref name='ArtFund'>{{cite web|title=Nature Morte au Poron by Pablo Picasso|url=https://www.artfund.org/supporting-museums/art-weve-helped-buy/artwork/10767/nature-morte-au-poron|publisher=[[Art Fund]]|access-date=19 January 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Morgan-Botti lecture]]
* [[List of national galleries]]

==Footnotes==
{{Noteslist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation|first=Rhiannon|last=Mason|year=2007|title=Museums, Nations, Identities: Wales and its National Museums|location=Cardiff|publisher=[[University of Wales Press]]}}
* {{citation|editor-first=John|editor-last=Osmond|year=2007|title=Myths, Memories and Futures: The National Library and National Museum in the Story of Wales|location=Cardiff|publisher=[[Institute of Welsh Affairs]]}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}

{{Museums and art galleries in Wales}}
{{Culture in Cardiff}}
{{Landmarks and Visitor Attractions in Cardiff}}
{{Economy and Industry of Cardiff}}
{{Tourism in Wales}}
{{Welsh art|state=collapsed}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:1907 establishments in Wales]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1907]]
[[Category:Museums in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Wales]]
[[Category:Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales]]
[[Category:National galleries|Wales]]
[[Category:Natural history museums in Wales]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Wales with royal patronage]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Archaeological museums in Wales]]
[[Category:Decorative arts museums in Wales]]
[[Category:Fossil museums in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Musical instrument museums in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Geology museums in Wales]]
<!-- includes geology collection -->
[[Category:Paleontology in Wales]]
[[Category:Domes in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Cathays Park]]
[[Category:Arts in Cardiff]]