We had the pleasure of visiting the newly reimagined Supporters’ House at the National Gallery, and to enjoy a wonderful lunch themed after Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus, curated by Giorgio Locatelli no less. The delicious lunch was served in the beautiful private dining room with the rich colour scheme inspired by Turner’s paintings of sunset.
Supporters’ House opened it doors in June last year after an extensive refurbishment. It’s now an exclusive, members-only social and cultural hub in the historic Wilkins Building, with a private entrance on Trafalgar Square. This tranquil setting, filled with amazing art, is the perfect setting for members to socialize, dine and enjoy exclusive events. EAs and PAs – you can now book it for your executives and clients private dinners and intimate gatherings too.
The first thing to struck us was the striking use of single colour in some of the rooms. The main dining room in a moody hues of grey, and the cinnamon-meet-chocolate private dining room are truly gorgeous. To have a chance to enjoy these rooms is a good reason alone to pay the very reasonable annual membership fee of £130 that grants you full access to the Supporters’ House and all exhibitions, talks and lectures at the gallery as well.
Supporters’ House – private dining and events at The National Gallery
The private dining room in the Supporters’ House is an intimate and self-contained space, warm and inviting. It has been created to impress and to become one of the sought after central London dining spots. Tucked away on Trafalgar Square, this space offers exceptional service and elegance. The Italian-inspired menus are curated by Giorgio Locatelli and catered and served by the gallery’s inhouse hospitality partner Searcys.
The private dining room is available for hire in the evening and lunch time, and seats up to 14 guests.
Another beautiful space available for exclusive evening hire is The Salon. It’s perfect for relaxed events and can seat up to 40 guests in theatre style. It’s colour scheme is based on summer blush hues which were popular in the 1850s – a pivotal time in the National Gallery’s history. This self-contained event space boasts high windows that frame glimpses of London’s skyline.
Event space hire at The National Gallery
The National Gallery regularly ranks among the top five most visited museums and galleries in the UK. Did you know that you can host events and dinners amongst the priceless art?
There is a large selection of spaces available for events of different styles and sizes, ranging from The Portico outdoor terrace to the Barry Room with its stunning domed ceiling and marbled columns – no wonder it’s the most popular event space in the gallery. But there are many more that will impress your guests and leave them with a unique experience of dining or gathering amongst centuries old master pieces.
You can also have menus themed to fit the art in a particular space, or choose your own theme to suit your business.
If you prefer a contemporary setting for your event, the gallery can offer this too at the Sainsbury Wing, which reopened after a 85 million rebuild last year, or the Annenberg Court.
Conferences and meetings with a difference at The National Gallery
You may not have expected the gallery to have state-of-the-art meeting and conference spaces. The purpose-built Piggott Theatre will seat up to 300 delegates, and the Whitcomb Room up to 40 theatre style, or 28 as a boardroom setting, plus the Supporters’ House are all fantastic for meetings and conferences.
And what’s best, you can add unique experiences to break the day of meetings, or to the end of the day. How special would a curated tour taking in van Gogh’s Sunflowers or Monet’s Water Lily Pond be? Or a drawing workshop by George Stubbs’ Whistlejacket?
There are many other experiences on offer too which the event team would be more than happy to help you with.
National Gallery will expand to contemporary art with a new building
Currently The National Gallery houses over 2,300 paintings dating from the 13th to the early 20th century. But this is about to change with the £750 million Project Domani that will make space for new collections, including 20th and 21st century art to be exhibited. The building will also house a wonderful rooftop and is planned to be located at the St Vincent House site between Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square.
