Any person with even a smidgeon of culture has had at least one memorable moment in a museum. Whether it happened when standing before the Mona Lisa for the first time in Paris’s Louvre Museum; a few minutes in shared silence with the work of an obscure artist at your local art gallery; or even just a space visited over the years that has become a secondary form of therapy. Now, one lucky person will be offered the opportunity to have the ultimate museum moment: To mark the museum’s 200th anniversary, the National Gallery in London is offering one fortunate art enthusiast an exclusive opportunity to sleep among iconic works of art.
The once-in-a-lifetime competition is in celebration of the grand reopening of its redesigned Sainsbury Wing (after a two-year closure) and the unveiling of a significant rehang. It’s part of a broader initiative “to reimagine how we share the stories of our extraordinary paintings, introducing exciting new elements,” Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, said in a statement. “It seems fitting that this prize should offer a lucky visitor a first glimpse at the transformed space and allow them to experience the masterpieces privately for one exceptional night.”
The National Gallery and the church St. Martin’s in the Fields at dusk.
The winner and one chosen guest will start off the evening, May 9, with a private dinner for two at Locatelli, the National Gallery’s newly opened restaurant helmed by Michelin-starred chef Giorgio Locatelli. Later, they will sleep amongst art history’s legends on a bed featuring bespoke linens designed by U.K. retail giant Marks & Spencer for the National Gallery.
The next morning, the lucky duo will wake up to a gourmet breakfast hamper before enjoying a one-on-one curator-led tour of C C Land: The Wonder of Art, the gallery’s largest rehang ever. It will integrate key works from the past seven centuries of Western European art into a new historical narrative. They will be among the first to explore this new display before it is unveiled to the public later that day on May 10.
The Sainsbury Wing’s sleek new design was done by renowned German, New York-based architect Annabelle Selldorf. The space now features a striking double-height foyer with a mezzanine level housing a bookshop, restaurant, and cocktail bar.
This isn’t the first experience that the museum has offered to the public. Earlier this year, visitors were invited to experience the museum’s sold-out Van Gogh exhibition during the late hours. But nobody was spending the night with these paintings.
To enter, you must be subscribed to the National Gallery newsletter, with the draw open until April 28 at 6pm. Entrants must be over 18. Click here here to find out more and sign up.
Rachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publication’s feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the best spa gifts to the best faux florals on the internet right now. She has more than 16 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.
