National gallery to make deep cuts in efforts to stem ballooning deficit | National Gallery

The National Gallery is set to make deep cuts in the face of an £8.2m deficit next year, which could mean fewer free exhibitions and booked shows, less international borrowing of artworks and higher ticket costs.

As a result of the significant increase in operating costs and stagnant income, the fair said it would look to cut spending in areas “such as public programs and activities for which, for a number of reasons beyond our control, we can no longer justify the costs.”

There will also be a “voluntary exit plan” available to all staff of the National Museum and its commercial arm, which will include financial incentives to leave. If this does not raise sufficient savings, forced labor could be eliminated.

A spokesperson for the show said: “Due to many widely reported circumstances that are beyond our control, such as rising operational costs and commercial pressures, we have now reached a point where we have to make difficult and painful decisions.” “To achieve sustainability, we must balance our technical and educational mission with a new operational structure.”

There were few signs of the exhibition’s growing deficit after the financial results last year received a major boost from the Van Gogh exhibition, which attracted a record number of 335,000 visitors. It will host another huge exhibition this year when all the surviving Van Eyck pictures are united for the first time.

But in the current financial year, which ends in March, the gallery expects to run a deficit of around £2 million. Without immediate remedial action, this amount was expected to grow by another £6.2m next year to £8.2m, The Art newspaper reported.

This comes at a time when public spending cuts, high operating costs and weak footfall have put significant pressure on UK museums. The number of visitors to the National Gallery has not yet recovered to its pre-Covid level, when the number of visitors to the exhibition was six million annually. The figure for the 12 months to September 2025 was 3.8 million.

The reopening of the Sainsbury’s Pavilion last May led to an improvement in visitor numbers, but visitors usually come for the free permanent collection rather than the ticketed exhibitions. The gallery also had to navigate the prices of new works and National Insurance payments, as well as inflation.

It recently celebrated its bicentenary with NG200 and is looking to the future with the Domani Project, the planned construction of a major new pavilion to showcase modern art. It has received pledges of £150 million from both the Michael Moritz Cranstart Foundation and the Julia Rausing Fund, which are believed to be the largest single cash donations ever publicly reported to a museum or gallery anywhere in the world. Budgets for both projects are locked in.

A spokesperson for the fair said: “We have succeeded in developing and greatly expanding our free offer, which is now very popular both in person and online.” “We have also succeeded in attracting huge investments in a landmark futures project. However, in the current global landscape and with the cost of living crisis, like many other organisations, we are facing increasing competition for people’s time and share of their wallet.”

Noel McLean, deputy general secretary of Prospect, said: “For a major gallery to be in such a dire financial state shows just how difficult things are in this sector. It is becoming increasingly clear that the level of funding for these vital cultural institutions is nowhere near adequate, and we are paying the price by losing skilled workers.”

“If we do not find a way to sustainably finance, the problems we are seeing at the National Gallery will be replicated across the country putting our heritage and culture in constant danger.”

The National Gallery currently receives an annual government grant of £32 million. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it was in close contact with the gallery about its financial situation. She added that decisions “related to staffing and operational matters” were made by the gallery’s curators.

The exhibition stressed the need for a “strategic reset.” “We know this is difficult, but we must all understand that things have changed in the world, and we must respond to them,” she said. “We need to make tough decisions now to secure the future of the gallery for years to come.”