National Gallery of Modern Art

The National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi is India’s national museum for modern and contemporary visual arts, located in the historic Jaipur House near India Gate. It was established by the Government of India in the mid-20th century to collect and exhibit modern Indian art.

Gallery highlights cover 19th- and 20th-century Indian painting, sculpture and works on paper by major Indian artists, alongside rotating exhibitions of contemporary practice. The site also includes a sculpture lawn and spaces for temporary displays and educational programmes.

The gallery was created to gather, preserve and display works charting India’s modern artistic development and has expanded its collections and public programmes since opening. The building itself is a repurposed royal residence adapted to gallery use.

Situated on central Delhi’s cultural axis near the India Gate and other national institutions, the museum is within walking distance of central government buildings and is accessible by city transport.

• Founding and building: Established in the mid-20th century as India's national institution for modern visual arts and housed in the former Jaipur House near India Gate.
• Visiting tip: Good times to visit are weekdays outside school holidays when galleries are less crowded and guided tours or talks are sometimes offered by the museum.

What to See #

• Jaipur House (building): The historic Jaipur House building that houses the New Delhi campus, notable for its circular layout and central rotunda designed as a former royal residence.
• Permanent collection galleries: Gallery spaces showing the museum's permanent holdings of modern and contemporary Indian art across painting, sculpture and works on paper.
• Sculpture lawn and temporary galleries: A landscaped sculpture lawn and temporary exhibition spaces used for rotating shows and public programmes.