The London National Gallery will build a new wing and will showcase modern art for the first time

London - The National Gallery in London announced today that with the help of a massive grant of £375 million (more than nine billion crowns), it will build a new wing and for the first time exhibit modern art there. AP reports this.

Founded in 1824, the institution has amassed an extensive collection of paintings by leading figures of Western art spanning various centuries, from Leonardo da Vinci to William Turner to Vincent van Gogh. However, almost no works created after 1900 are represented in the collections, according to AP. Modern art is exhibited in other galleries in the British capital, such as Tate Modern.

That will change when the National Gallery opens its new wing, to be built on its site near Trafalgar Square. An architectural competition will be announced for the design of the building.

The National Gallery states that the funds for the project include two of the largest donations ever publicly announced by any museum or gallery. It received £150 million from the Crankstart Foundation, established by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Michael Moritz and his wife, writer Harriet Heyman. The same amount was given to the institution by the Julia Rausing Trust, which is managed by Hans, the heir to the Tetra Pak company and son of the late philanthropist Julia Rausing.

The museum's director Gabriele Finaldi stated that the aim is for the National Gallery to become "a place where the British public and visitors from around the world can enjoy the best collection of paintings in the world from the medieval period to the present day, in a magnificent architectural environment."

The gallery aims to build its collection of works from after 1900 in collaboration with Tate, which holds the leading British collections of British and world art from after 1900.

Tate director Maria Balshaw expressed that her institution looks forward to "close cooperation with colleagues from the National Gallery on loans, curatorial and conservation expertise aimed at supporting the development of new exhibitions."