Do some of you, like me, remember when the Courtauld Institute’s Impressionist collection was hung on dusty hessian in Woburn Square? Such was the power of those masterpieces by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Cezanne, they glowed even in those drab surroundings. I remember still the complementary blue and orange of Monet’s ‘Autumn at Argenteuil’ as well as the haunting immobility of the Barmaid in Manet’s ‘Bar at the Folies Bergère.’
Then in 1989 the collection was packed up and moved across London to join the Courtauld Institute in Somerset House, Chambers’ imposing 1770s palace built to house various learned societies of London. Here the Royal Academy had its Great Room from 1771 where none other than Gainsborough objected to being hung “on the line”, eight feet above the floor. The small rooms with their busy chandeliers, ornate plaster cornices, Neoclassical swags and Wedgwood colours, seemed totally at odds with Impressionist works which had been painted in rejection of academic pomp. Still, those Impressionist paintings glowed, and their after-image remained in the recesses of our brain where we store previous delight.
The Impressionists were joined by works from other collections: remarkable Italian Primitives from the Gambier-Parry collection; an exquisite 14c triptych by the follower of Giotto Bernardo Daddi; the powerful ‘Entombment of Christ’ of 1425 by Robert Campin; unforgettable buoyant sketches by Rubens and Tiepolo, all from the collection of Count Antoine Seilern’s at Princes Gate; and Roger Fry’s extraordinary bequest of paintings and brightly painted furniture by the Bloomsbury artists, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and others.
Through the pandemic, the entire collection was completely reconfigured: rehung in striking and informative ways, hung on walls using a palette of subtle colours, with clear explanatory texts and signage designed by Nissen Richards Studio. Small-scale medieval altarpieces are controversially placed among Islamic treasures; a magnificent newly-cleaned Botticelli hangs in its newly-carved frame in a delicately-coloured medieval environment; Gainsborough is hung in the context of gleaming vessels by his contemporary Huguenot silversmiths of whom an early Courtauld was one; Van Gogh is intentionally hung so that you can see a glimpse of his connection to Seurat as you cast a diagonal glance across the room. A soft-hued room is devoted to a changing collection of deeply-coloured 20c British artworks by Peter Lanyon, Frank Auerbach, Patrick Heron, Leon Kossoff, and others.
We offer a study morning in the form of an amble through the galleries, looking at the renewal of relationships between old friends, while seeing the Courtauld’s amazing paintings and objects as if for the first time. The Courtaulds themselves would be pleased by our visit as they believed that art was vital for a person’s sense of well-being! Please do join us.
Cost: £85 including entry fee or £75 for Courtauld and Art Fund Members.
Please let us know if you would like to remain with us for an optional lunch at a nearby pub, the Wellington.
Booking Information
On receipt of your payment we will send you an information sheet, requesting details of travel, room, dietary requirements etc to be filled out and returned to Henrietta in the stamped addressed envelope we will provide.
Due to the coronavirus cheques are not a viable option at this time. Instead, please make your payment to Friend&Friend Ltd by bank transfer to our account with Metrobank, bank sort code 23-05-80, account number 13291721 or via PayPal to nicholas@inscapetours.co.uk, or credit/debit card by phone to Henrietta on 07940 719397. She is available Tuesdays 10-12 and 2-5 pm or Thursdays 10-12 and 2-5 pm.
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