The Millennium Wing of the National Gallery was formally opened this morning with an exhibition of Impressionist masterpieces on loan from the Museum of Fine Art in Boston.
Works from Monet, Manet, Cézanne, and Van Gogh are among those lined up to help celebrate the opening, in what the gallery says will be the first major Impressionist exhibition in Ireland.
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The main orientation court
looking towards the entrance to Clare Street |
The opening of the new wing was due last autumn but was postponed because of construction delays. It is 4,000 square metres in size and includes a suite of galleries, a centre for the study of Irish art, a Yeats archive, a multi-media facility and an audiovisual room.
Speaking at the opening of the new wing, the Minister for Arts and Culture, Ms Síle de Valera, said: "This architectural landmark will add to and enhance the existing buildings of the National Gallery and will embrace the architectural landscape of Dublin city as a whole.
"Irish people will take pride in this new development which firmly establishes Dublin city amongst the art and cultural capitals of Europe".
Thanking the Minister, gallery chairperson Ms Carmel Naughton said that without the Government and departmental support it would not have been possible to bring such a the exhibition.
Over 100,000 people are expected to visit the Millennium Wing over the next three months.