Southampton City Art Gallery exhibition marks National Gallery links

Claude Monet's The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil forms part of the exhibition

Paintings by Monet and Gainsborough are set to be loaned by the National Gallery for a special exhibition in Southampton.

Southampton City Art Gallery will host the Creating a National Collection exhibition to mark its links with the National Gallery over 92 years.

Help from the National Gallery in London was instrumental in developing Southampton's renowned art collection

The exhibition is due to run from May until September.

The Southampton collection was created by a bequest left by local pharmacist Robert Chipperfield who died in 1911.

He stipulated that all purchases should be considered in collaboration with the National Gallery, thus ensuring all its acquisitions would be of national importance.

Southampton City Art Gallery is considered one of the most significant collections in the country outside London, boasting works by Turner, Lowry, Monet and Angel of the North creator Antony Gormley.

Southampton City Art Gallery is considered to have one of the country's finest art collections outside London

Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery said the relationship between the two institutions was an "untold story".

"The story that emerges of close collaboration over almost a century is unique in the National Gallery's annals in terms of its duration and breadth of outputs."

The exhibition will include 58 works paintings by Monet, Gainsborough, Maggi Hambling and Paula Rego from both the Southampton and the National Gallery's collection which cover key moments in the history of Western European art.

Carolyn Abel, head of culture and tourism at Southampton City Council, said the art gallery, which opened, in 1939 remained "the jewel in our city's crown".

The exhibition marks part of Southampton efforts to become UK City of Culture in 2025.