Painters' Paintings: From Freud to Van Dyck

Explore the connections between painters and the paintings they possessed in an exhibition spanning over five hundred years of art history

'Painters' Paintings' takes its inspiration from works in the National Gallery Collection once owned by painters, revealing the private acquisitions of Freud, Matisse, Degas, Leighton, Watts, Lawrence, Reynolds, and Van Dyck.

The exhibition investigates why these painters acquired other painters' works – for artistic inspiration, to support fellow artists, as status symbols, as investments, even out of obsession.

It also considers the fascinating relations painters had with the paintings they possessed, and what happened when their acquisitions entered public collections.

'Painters' Paintings' features more than eighty works spanning over five hundred years of art history, from Freud’s 2002 ‘Self Portrait: Reflection’ to Bellini’s Agony in the Garden of about 1465.

About half of the works are exceptional loans from public and private collections, including Cézanne’s ‘Three Bathers’ once owned by Matisse, Sisley’s ‘The Flood. Banks of the Seine, Bougival’ once owned by Degas, and Gainsborough’s ‘Girl with Pigs’ once owned by Reynolds

Each painting offers a unique insight into the private worlds of these celebrated masters.