National Gallery

What do the pictures of Titian and William Turner, Caravaggio and Van Gogh teach us today? How are these masterpieces conveyed to visitors? What goes on behind the scenes of a museum establishment and how is such an institution marketed? Master director Frederick Wiseman spent twelve weeks in 2012 at the National Gallery in London. In his Direct Cinema style, Wiseman shows us what he as a viewer in the museum observes: Extraordinary close-ups of great art works, and everything else that goes into making a museum – the visitors and their view of the pictures; guided tours, lectures, concerts; curators, arts organisers, museum directors and marketing specialists busy at work.