‘The greatest picture gallery in Europe’ reopens in London

Associated media

Two years after it was last open to the public, the Wallace Collection’s Great Gallery reopens. Rosalind Ormiston went to find out what has changed at this historic venue

On 19 September 2014, after a two-year closure, the Great Gallery in Hertford House, London, housing one of the finest private collections of Dutch and Flemish 17th-century art in Europe, re-opened to the public. A generous £5 million gift from the Monument Trust – in memory of Simon Sainsbury – has realized an ambitious project of refurbishing a unique gallery.

At a preview before the Great Gallery re-opening, Dr Christoph Vogtherr, director of the Wallace Collection, made the point that Hertford House is an art museum not an historic house museum and thus not restricted by the construction of the house or the late-19th-century Great Gallery extension. This major difference has allowed freedom to do what is best for the artworks.

The Gallery is the central space of the Wallace Collection. The art historian Kenneth Clark described it as ‘the greatest picture gallery in Europe’. Its last refurbishment was 35 years ago and this upgrade, planned by lead architects Purcell and design architect John O’Connell, included the removal of the 1970s lowered ceiling, originally necessitated by the air conditioning system then available. This has allowed for natural daylight to infuse the space through glazed ceiling panels supported by an advanced LED lighting system. Further changes include the addition of spectacular crimson silk damask on the walls, which accentuates the colour tones of the Old Master paintings on display. Modern technology requires less space for temperature control and security equipment, leaving exposed a grander, more beautiful room.

The picture rehang by curator Lucy Davis shows the art collection, including works by Titian, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Veronese, Rubens and Poussin, at its best. Davis saw the rehang as an opportunity to consider new groupings of paintings. ‘What’s really special about this splendid gallery is that all of the Schools are brought together in the same room. This means that you are able to view the paintings side by side and to compare and contrast them’. This is quite different to most national museums, where early modern paintings are divided by national schools.  In the Great Gallery the hang underlines an exchange of ideas between European artists increasingly exposed to the work of their contemporaries; many of the artists travelled widely in Europe.

In the Great Gallery the longer north and south walls are now organized around artistic centres. The finest paintings in the Wallace Collection are here. Not to be missed is Perseus and Andromeda, 1554–6, by Titian, who was such a great influence on Velázquez, Rubens and Van Dyck. The painting sits next to François Lemoyne’s Perseus and Andromeda, 1723, which allows for a comparison of the works, and an understanding of the influence of Venetian Renaissance painting in the development of later European art. In addition, here is Velázquez’s Lady with a Fan, c.1640, Frans Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier, c.1624, The Rainbow Landscape, c.1636 by Peter Paul Rubens, and Rembrandt’s companion (‘pendant’) paintings Jean Pellicorne with his son Caspar, 1632, and Susanna van Collen, Wife of Jean Pellicorne with her daughter Anna, 1632.

The west and east walls are thematic. The west wall holds a display of religious paintings including The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and Saint John the Baptist (1614–15), by Rubens. The east wall is dominated by Thomas Lawrence's 1822 portrait of George IV (formerly the Prince Regent from whom the Regency period takes it name). The addition of decorative wainscot panelling to the gallery walls has allowed Davis to create a lighter double hang of works. Sir Richard Wallace’s original display was as many as three-paintings deep. Now superb still lives, by Jan Weenix and Melchior  d’ Hondecoeter, reside above the portraits, landscapes, religious and mythological works in the collection.

Admission to the Great Gallery and the Wallace Collection is free and, to celebrate the re-opening of the Great Gallery, there is an extensive programme of events, talks, tours and evening openings. See the gallery's website for details - there is a link in the Background info box.