NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART
NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART The idea of a national art gallery was first mooted in 1949. It was nurtured carefully by Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and Maulana Azad, bureaucrats like Humayun Kabir and an active art community. Vice president Dr S. Radhakrishanan formally inaugurated the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) on March 29, 1954. The choice of Jaipur House, one of the premier edifices of Lutyens’ Delhi, signified the envisaged high profile of the institution. Designed by Sir Arthur Bloomfield, as a residence for the Maharaja of Jaipur, the butterfly-shaped building with a central dome was built in 1936. It was styled after a concept of the Central Hexagon visualised by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Alongwith buildings designed for other princely potentates like Bikaner and Hyderabad, Jaipur House girded the India Gate circle. It has branches in Bangalore and Mumbai. Its collection of more than 1700 works by 2000 plus artists , which includes artists such as Thomas Daniell, Raj