John Virtue was invited to become the sixth National Gallery Associate Artist because of his deep-rooted relationship with the great European landscape tradition that is magnificently represented in the museum’s collection. Working in the National Gallery’s studio, Virtue has made an unprecedented series of large-scale paintings that represent the London cityscape looking towards St. Paul’s and a smaller group showing Trafalgar Square from the roof of the National Gallery. Executed solely in black and white, they are monumental, epic works.