Bettina is no stranger to putting art in the frame, Evening Standard

Bettina von Hase is relishing the "real bonus" of being surrounded every day by one of world's great art collections.

The daughter of a former German Ambassador to London, she is now settling in as the National Gallery's new Head of Development.

"I believe very passionately in the gallery and what it is doing," says Miss von Hase, 35, who won the job from several hundred other applicants.

"It is a great honour to work here, especially so for a foreigner, though I was actually brought up in this country."

Apart from perfect English, she brings to the post a rich mix of skills. A former Reuters journalist based in Paris and Vienna who subsequently worked as a television producer here and in New York, she has had no formal art training.

But she has always aimed to be "an amateur activist in the interests of art" and in her last job as manager of the arts portfolio for the management consultants SRU, the National Gallery was a client.

Her European background and command of languages should help her develop the European involvement and support sought by the gallery.

Immediate aims are to secure a sponsorship for the January exhibition on works of the 17th century French painter Claude, and a further for Tradition and Revolution in French Art 1700-1880, an exhibition from the Musee des Beaux Arts in Lille opening in March which will include paintings by David, Delacroix, Courbet and Gericault.

"In the longer term," says Miss von Hase, undeterred by the recession, "we need to raise several million pounds for the refurbishment of the gallery's northern extension."