One of the premier institutes of the country, National Gallery of Modern Art houses some of the oldest paintings and art pieces of India. There are about 14,000 pieces in the gallery, some of which date back to the 1850s. Some of the famous painters whose works have been displayed here include Rabindranath Tagore, Raja Ravi Verma, Thomas Daniell, Gaganendranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, along with foreign artists and sculptors. The area of the gallery was the former residential palace of the Maharaja of Jaipur. Designed by Sir Arthur Bloomfield, the butterfly-shaped building was made in 1936. The first curator of the gallery was a reputed German art historian, Hermann Goetz. Over a period of time, new facilities were added such as the Art Restoration Services, Art Reference Library etc. In 2009, a new wing that is six times the size of the existing gallery was inaugurated along with a new auditorium, a preview theatre, conservation laboratory etc.