The Wallace Collection

Picture Galleries 2010-11

In contrast to the intimate interiors with curtains, fireplaces and doors, these three top-lit galleries will be a more formal celebration of some of our internationally significant collection of paintings: from European old masters to 19th-century French and English pictures. The ambition is to retrieve both the ceiling height and more daylight in these galleries, which were lost when air-conditioning was installed, such that they once again reflect the grandeur of the paintings they contain.

The Venetian Gallery: The Lure of Venice

Here we will present a completely new interpretation of our 18th-century Venetian collections. Wonderful paintings by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi, so beloved by British travellers on the Grand Tour, will be complemented by Italian hard-stone furniture, bronzes, mirrors and two of our eight statuesque Doge’s chairs. The latter, richly carved and gilded, are in a poor state of repair, and will be the subject of a major conservation and re-upholstery project to be undertaken simultaneously with the refurbishment of the gallery.

Nineteenth-Century Gallery 1:
Historical Romanticism

This brand new gallery will be created from a portion of the north end of the old West Gallery (to become the Venetian Gallery). Here we will display our oil paintings by Richard Parkes Bonington and Eugène Delacroix, currently seen out of context on the ground floor, but up here they will be perfectly set between Venice and France. The Wallace Collection has the national holding of paintings and watercolours by Bonington, including historical subjects which are echoed by Delacroix’s Execution of the Doge Marino Faliero and Paul Delaroche’s famous Edward V and the Duke of York in the Tower. Such a combination of English and French artists is unusual in any gallery in the world and will play to the strengths of this specialist area of the Wallace Collection.

Nineteenth-Century Gallery 2:
French 19th-century Painting

The densely-hung room reflects the appearance of the 19thcentury salon displays in Paris. It is dominated by Ary Scheffer’s Francesca da Rimini and also contains the national holding of paintings by Ernest Meissonier. The gallery also pays homage to Napoleon and combines paintings, sculpture and miniatures connected with his campaigns and personal life. The effect will be bold and dramatic, and a reminder of a period of French painting which elsewhere is wholly eclipsed by Impressionism: a very rare survival anywhere in the world.

The Great Gallery 2012-13

The late Lord Clark called this ‘The greatest picture gallery in Europe’ and, as mentioned above, we plan to refurbish this in honour of our great supporter, Trustee and Chairman, Simon Sainsbury. This will bring our current project to completion.