Guildhall Art Gallery facts for kids
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| Established | 1885 (original), 1999 (current) |
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| Location | Moorgate area, City of London, England |
| Type | Art museum |
| Collection size | About 4,000 items |
| Architect | Richard Gilbert Scott (current building) |
The Guildhall Art Gallery is a cool museum in the City of London, England. It's where the City of London keeps its amazing collection of art! You can find it in the Moorgate area. The building itself is made of stone and looks a bit like old Gothic buildings, fitting in nicely with the historic Guildhall right next door. You can even walk between them inside!
Contents
A Look Back: The Gallery's History
For a long time, the City of London Corporation (which is like the local government for the City of London) has been collecting art. They started collecting portraits way back in 1670. These paintings were first hung in the Guildhall building.
Over the years, especially in the 1800s and 1900s, the art collection grew much bigger. People gave many artworks as gifts. This meant the collection included not just portraits, but also paintings about history and other types of art.
Building the First Gallery
The very first building made just for showing off this art collection was finished in 1885. Sadly, this original building was destroyed during The Blitz in 1941. The Blitz was a time in World War II when London was bombed heavily. Because of this, 164 paintings, drawings, and prints were lost, along with 20 sculptures.
It took a long time for a new gallery to be built. In 1985, the City of London Corporation decided it was time to create a new home for their art.
The Modern Gallery
The new building was designed by a British architect named Richard Gilbert Scott. He used a style called postmodern, which mixes old and new ideas. This new gallery was planned to hold about 4,000 pieces of art. It was finally completed in 1999.
One of the most important artworks in the collection is a huge painting by John Singleton Copley. It shows The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar. This amazing painting is placed right in the entrance hall of the gallery for everyone to see.
Discovering the Roman Amphitheatre
The Guildhall Art Gallery and the buildings around it were built on top of something very old and exciting: London's Roman amphitheatre! An amphitheatre was a large, open-air stadium used for public events in ancient Roman times.
When the new art gallery was being built, they discovered the remains of this ancient Roman amphitheatre. You can actually go down into the basement of the art gallery and see parts of the original amphitheatre right where they were found! It's like stepping back in time to Roman London.
