The National Gallery in London is selling its legendary red benches

At Afisha.London, we couldn’t pass by this story: the National Gallery in London is saying goodbye to its deep red leather benches — the very ones on which generations of visitors once sat, gazing at the paintings of Turner and Stubbs. The museum is withdrawing them from use and putting them up for sale, citing new health and safety regulations.

The benches were made in the 1980s and 1990s after Victorian designs. Once symbols of comfort and quiet contemplation, they no longer meet modern fire safety standards. Their leather and wood — once valued for craftsmanship — are now considered impractical: they age, are difficult to maintain, and can harbour pests that pose a risk to the collection.

ART-завтрак «Борис Годунов» в Лондоне: тогда и сейчас

Eleven benches will be sold through Bellmans Auctioneers, with estimates of around £1,200 each — a modest price for a piece of furniture that has absorbed the atmosphere of thousands of museum days.

The sale coincides with a major transformation of the gallery as it marks its bicentenary. Alongside the renovation of the Sainsbury Wing, the institution is, for the first time in decades, redefining the scope of its collection. Backed by a record £375 million donation, it will begin acquiring modern works, expanding beyond its traditional boundaries.

Photo Courtesy Bellmans Auctioneers

Yet it was the disappearance of the red benches that provoked the most emotional reaction. “How can they sell something so beautiful?” lamented visitors on social media.

The museum clarified that the benches are not original but late-20th-century reproductions, and that all design drawings and photographs have been preserved — allowing them to be recreated should the gallery ever wish to restore them.

For those who have ever sat on them, no explanation is needed. There was a particular pleasure in sinking into the soft, warm leather, feeling its quiet breath — as if you were not in a museum but in an old friend’s study. To sit there, half-dreaming, in front of Turner or Constable, was almost to be invited into their world. A glass of wine might have completed the scene — but even without it, those were sweet, unhurried moments of museum peace.

Сокровища Британской библиотеки

Now the galleries are furnished with new oak benches — austere, functional, without embellishment. You can still sit down, but the comfort is gone. And with the red benches, something else has quietly vanished too: that subtle charm which once made a visit to the National Gallery feel like a deeply personal pleasure.

Cover photo: Call Me Fred on Unsplash

Telegram канал

Read also: 

Christie’s London presents Fabergé’s Winter Egg – expected to exceed £20 million

The life and work of Lee Miller: a retrospective at Tate Britain

The London Christmas Guide 2025: shows, skating and sparkling nights