The idea of a National art gallery came in light in 1949 and idea was further nurtured by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad, and few other sensitive bureaucrats like Humayun Kabir and an active art community. Our that time Vice-president Dr. S Radhakrishnan formally had inaugurated the NGMA in the presence of PM Jawaharlal Nehru and many reputed and ranged artists and art lovers of the city on March 29, 1954. It is situated at Shershah Road, Near India Gate and nearest metro station to NGMA is Khan market.
- NGMA’s inauguration was initially marked up by an exhibition of big, huge sculptures. Many prominent sculptors of those times took an active participation in this artistic, cultural program. Those figures include Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhury, Ramkinkar Baij, Sarbari Roy Chowdhury, Dhanraj Bhagatand and others as well who took part in this inauguration of national art gallery.
- A noted German art historian, Goetz had earlier been responsible for setting up the Baroda Museum. Since Goetz’s tenure, NGMA has had a string of distinguished directors.
- National art gallery is the prominent institution of its kind all over India. It runs and administrated as subordinate office branch to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The gallery is a repository of the cultural ethos of the country and showcases the changing art forms through the passage of the last hundred and fifty years from 1857 in the field of Plastic and Visual arts. Notwithstanding some gaps and some trivia, the NGMA collection today is undeniably the most significant collection of modern and contemporary art in the country today.
The gallery with 12,000 sq. ft. of area covered, it is one of the largest modern art museums in the world. It holds almost 14,000 fine art works by various famous people like Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Thomas Daniell etc. where few of the works which are showcased in this gallery dates back to around 1857.
The art gallery in Delhi is housed in the Jaipur House which is originally happened to be the place of residence of Maharaja of Jaipur at some point of time.
You can also read: The Breathtaking Street Art of Delhi
