Dulwich Picture Gallery is an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

in Dulwich, South London, which opened to the public in 1817. It was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination. Dulwich is the oldest public art gallery in England and was made an independent charitable trust in 1994. Until this time the gallery was part of the

College of God's Gift The College of God's Gift, often referred to as the Old (Dulwich) College, was a historic charity founded in 1619 by the Elizabethan actor and businessman Edward Alleyn who endowed it with the ancient Manor of Dulwich in south London. In 1857 it ...

, a charitable foundation established by the actor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist

Edward Alleyn Edward "Ned" Alleyn (; 1 September 156621 November 1626) was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of the College of God's Gift in Dulwich. Early life Alleyn was born on 1 September 1566 in Bishop ...

in the early 17th century. The acquisition of artworks by its founders and bequests from its many patrons resulted in Dulwich Picture Gallery housing one of the country's finest collections of

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

, especially rich in French, Italian, and Spanish

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

paintings, and in British portraits from Tudor times to the 19th century. The Dulwich Picture Gallery and its mausoleum are listed Grade II* on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

History

Early history of the gallery

Edward Alleyn (1566–1626) was an actor who became an entrepreneur in Elizabethan theatre. His commercial interests in the Rose and Fortune Theatres (a major competitor to the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and ...

), gave him sufficient wealth to acquire the Manor of Dulwich in 1605. He founded a college at Dulwich, the

, and endowed it with his estate. It was a school for boys and next to it were almshouses for the local poor. The college became three separate beneficiary schools –

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 co-educational, independent, Church of England, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundation ...

, and James Allen's Girls' School, named after an early 18th-century headmaster. The college, the attached almshouses and chapel survive next to the gallery on Gallery Road, although its exterior has undergone extensive renovation. Alleyn bequeathed the college of a collection of works including portraits of the kings and queens of England. The college retained connections with the theatre and in 1686, the actor William Cartwright (1606–1686) bequeathed a collection of 239 pictures, of which 80 are now identifiable at Dulwich. In the 18th century, the collection was displayed on the first floor of the wing of the Old College. It attracted few additions during this period, and recorded descriptions of the gallery suggest disappointment and apathy from its visitors. The art historian and Whig politician

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...

wrote that he saw "a hundred mouldy portraits among apostles sibyls and kings of England".

Later history – Bourgeois, Desenfans and Sir John Soane

The Dulwich collection was improved in size and quality by Sir Francis Bourgeois (1753–1811), originally from Switzerland, and his business partner, Frenchman Noël Desenfans (1744–1807). Their involvement saw the Gallery make significant steps towards its present state, and they are credited as founders of Dulwich Picture Gallery. They ran an art dealership in London and in 1790 were commissioned by the King of

the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarc ...

, to assemble a national collection for Poland to encourage fine arts in his country. Desenfans had lobbied the British Government to create a similar British national collection and offered to contribute to it, but was unenthusiastically received. Touring around Europe buying

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

, Bourgeois and Desenfans took five years to assemble the collection, but by 1795 the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been partitioned and no longer existed. Bourgeois and Desenfans attempted to sell the collection but were unsuccessful. Instead, they sold small pieces to fund the purchase of other important works and kept the collection in Desenfans' house in Charlotte Street. After the death of Desenfans in 1807, Bourgeois inherited the collection. He commissioned Sir John Soane to design and construct a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...

at Desenfans' house, but was unable to secure the freehold. Bourgeois bequeathed his collection to the College of God's Gift on the advice of the actor

John Philip Kemble John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him o ...

, a friend of both dealers. Bourgeois left instructions in his will for the construction of a gallery in Dulwich, designed by Soane, in which to display the collection. It was next to the original college buildings by the chapel. He also left £2,000 for construction costs and £4,000 was contributed by Desenfan's widow. The gallery was opened to students of the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1815, two years before the official opening to the public, the delay due to a problem with the gallery's heating system. It became a popular venue for copyists from London schools of art. Its collection was frequented by many cultural figures over the next hundred years, many of whom first visited as students, including

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, th ...

, William Etty,

Joseph Mallord William Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

, and later

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

mentions Dulwich Picture Gallery in his novel ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...

'', as Samuel Pickwick, the novel's protagonist, is a visitor to the gallery in his retirement.

Modern history

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn - Jacob III de Gheyn - Google Art Project

In the early hours of 31 December 1966, eight paintings were stolen, three by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

, ''A Girl at the Window'', a version of'' Portrait of Titus'' and his ''

Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III ''Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III'' is a 1632 oil on oak panel portrait by Rembrandt of the engraver Jacob de Gheyn III, now in Dulwich Picture Gallery. It is smaller than most of Rembrandt's works, measuring only 29.9 by 24.9 centimetres (11.8 ...

'', a fellow artist, three by

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

, ''Three Women with a Cornucopia'', ''St. Barbara and The Three Graces''; and one, ''A Lady Playing on the Clavicord'' by

Gerrit Dou Gerrit Dou (7 April 1613 – 9 February 1675), also known as Gerard Douw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre scenes and is noted for his ...

and ''Susannah and the Elders'' by Adam Elsheimer. They were worth at least £3 million but a reward of just £1,000 was offered for their return. Within a few days all the paintings were recovered after an investigation led by

Detective Superintendent Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territorie ...

Charles Hewett, who had previously investigated suspected

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Dr John Bodkin Adams. Michael Hall, an unemployed ambulance driver, was the only one of the thieves caught and was sentenced to five years in prison. Rembrandt's small early ''

'' (1632) has been stolen and recovered four times and is listed in ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the most frequently stolen artwork in the world. Last stolen in 1983, it was recovered from a left-luggage office in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1986; returned anonymously; found on the back of a bicycle; and discovered under a bench in a graveyard in Streatham, south London. Since 2010, the painting has been guarded by an upgraded security system. In November 2019, During the ''Rembrandt's Light'' exhibition featuring loans works from the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

in Paris and the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the ...

in Amsterdam, thieves attempted to steal two of the paintings. The paintings were recovered from the grounds. In 1995 a major reorganisation of the historic Alleyn's College charity resulted in the reconstitution of Dulwich Picture Gallery as an independent

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

. The Gallery marked its bicentenary in 2017. As part of the celebrations the Gallery partnered with the

London Festival of Architecture The London Festival of Architecture is a festival specialized in architecture. It takes place annually in London, United Kingdom usually through the month of June. It features an extensive range of activities that focus on design and architectur ...

to hold a competition for emerging architects to create a 'Dulwich Pavilion', a temporary events structure to be built in the Gallery's historic grounds during the summer of 2017. The competition was won by London-based architecture practice IF_DO. In June–September 2019, the Dulwich hosted the first major exhibition of the works of the Grosvenor School in a public art gallery outside Australia, which was critically well received.

Donors

British - The Judde Memorial - Google Art Project

The gallery attracted donors from its earliest days. In 1835 William Linley (1771–1835) — last of a musical and theatrical family, (many of whom had connections to Dulwich College) and brother-in-law to playwright

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as '' The Rivals'', ''The ...

— bequeathed his collection of family portraits to the gallery. Among these paintings were works by

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...

Archer James Oliver Archer James Oliver (1774 – 16 March 1842) was a British painter, principally active as a portraitist. Life The son of John and Anna Maria Oliver, he was christened at St Mary's church in Whitechapel on 3 October 1774. Oliver studied at the ...

, James Lonsdale and

Sir Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at t ...

. The portraitist and Royal Academician

William Beechey Sir William Beechey (12 December 175328 January 1839) was an English portraitist during the golden age of British painting. Early life Beechey was born at Burford, Oxfordshire, on 12 December 1753, the son of William Beechey, a solicitor, an ...

(1753–1839) donated a picture of the gallery's founder Bourgeois he had painted on the back of a picture by

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

in 1836 adding two images to the collection, although only one can be shown at a time. In 2012, the side of the canvas on display is by Reynolds. British portrait art became better represented due to the benefaction of

Charles Fairfax Murray Charles Fairfax Murray (30 September 1849 – 25 January 1919) was a British painter, dealer, collector, benefactor, and art historian who was connected with the second wave of the Pre-Raphaelites. Early years The youngest of four children, ...

, a

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

painter, collector and dealer. A group of 40 pictures were donated by Murray in 1911 and others followed in 1915 and 1917–18.

Gallery design

Dulwich Picture Gallery's design and architecture comprising a series of interlinked rooms lit by natural light through overhead

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

s has been the primary influence on art gallery design ever since. Soane designed the sky lights to illuminate the paintings indirectly. Soane's design was unrelated to traditional architectural practice or schools of architecture. Instead of constructing a facade with the

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

porticos favoured by many contemporary architects, he opted to use uninterrupted raw brick, a feature subsequently adopted by many 20th-century art galleries. The architect

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...

said "Soane has taught us how to display paintings". Before Soane settled on his final design, he proposed a number of other ideas around a quadrangle belonging to the Alleyn's charitable foundation to the south of the college buildings. The schemes proved too ambitious and only the gallery was built, conceived as one wing of the quadrangle. The mausoleum was Soane's idea, as Bourgeois had merely indicated a desire to be buried in the college chapel. Soane recalled Bourgeois' desire to construct a mausoleum in Desenfan's home and his design was axiomatic to that of the Charlotte Street house. Bourgeois and Desenfans, along with Desenfans' wife, who died in 1815, are buried in the gallery's mausoleum.

Alms house An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s constructed by Soane along the west side of the gallery were converted into exhibition space by Charles Barry, Jr. in 1880 and an eastward extension was built to designs by E S Hall between 1908 and 1938. On 12 July 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the mausoleum and west wing galleries were badly damaged by a German V1 flying bomb and bones were scattered across the lawn in front of the gallery. The three

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

in the mausoleum now contain approximately a

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

each. The buildings were refurbished by Austin Vernon and Partners and re-opened by the Queen Mother on 27 April 1953. A modernist cafe, education rooms, disabled access and lecture theatre by Rick Mather were added in 1999. At the same time parts of Soane's original design were restored and the latest refurbishment was opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on 25 May 2000. Image:Dulwich picture gallery at sunset.jpg, Exterior view Image:Dulwich Picture Gallery TQ3373 142.jpg, Dulwich Picture Gallery exterior looking north Image:Dulwich Picture Gallery exterior.jpg, Exterior – east frontage Image:Dulwich Picture Gallery.jpg, Mausoleum Image:Dulwich-picture-gallery-interior.JPG, The main gallery Image:Dulwich Picture Gallery mausoleum.jpg, Inside the mausoleum File:Dulwich Picture Gallery in 1922 (rooms 1-5).jpg, The main gallery in 1922 File:Dulwich Picture Gallery in 1922 (room 9).jpg, Room 9 in 1922 Image:Dulwich Picture Gallery in 1922.jpg, Exterior view in 1922

Collection

Dou, Gerrit - A Woman playing a Clavichord - Google Art Project

Poussin, Nicolas - The Nurture of Jupiter - Google Art Project

;Dutch School :* Cuyp, Aelbert – 11 paintings; :* Dou, Gerrit – 1 painting; :* Hobbema, Meyndert – 1 painting; :* Hooch, Charles Cornelisz de – 2 paintings; :* Neer, Aernout van der – 1 painting; :* Ostade, Adriaen van – 5 paintings; :*

Rembrandt van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

– 3 paintings; :* Ruisdael, Jacob van – 4 paintings; :* Velde, Adriaen van de – 2 paintings; :* Velde, Willem van de...the Younger – 3 paintings; :* Weenix, Jan – 1 painting; :* Wouwerman, Philip – 12 paintings; ;English School :* Dobson, William – 1 painting; :* Gainsborough, Thomas – 7 paintings; :* Hogarth, William – 2 paintings; :* Landseer, Sir Edwin – 1 painting; :* Lawrence, Thomas – 3 paintings; :* Reynolds, Joshua – 9 paintings; :* Constable, John – 1 painting; ;Flemish School :*

Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger Marcus Gheeraerts (also written as Gerards or Geerards; 1561/62 – 19 January 1636) was a Flemish artist working at the Tudor court, described as "the most important artist of quality to work in England in large-scale between Eworth and van ...

– 1 painting; :* Rubens, Peter Paul – 10 paintings; :* Teniers, David – 19 paintings; :* Van Dyck, Anthony – 5 paintings; ;French School :* Dughet, Gaspard – 4 paintings; :* Fragonard, Jean-Honoré – 1 painting; :* Gellée, Claude – 4 paintings; :* Poussin, Nicolas – 6 paintings; :* Vernet, Claude-Joseph – 6 paintings; :* Watteau, Jean-Antoine – 2 paintings; ;Italian School :*

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

, (Giovanni Antonio Canal) – 2 paintings; :* Carracci, Annibale – 4 paintings; :* Piero di Cosimo – 1 painting; :* Guercino, (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) – 2 paintings; :* Raphael, (Raffaello Sanzio) – 2 paintings; :* Reni, Guido – 2 paintings; :* Ricci, Sebastiano – 2 paintings; :* Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista – 3 paintings; :* Vasari, Giorgio – 1 painting; :* Veronese, Paolo – 1 painting; :* Zuccarelli, Francesco – 3 paintings; ;Spanish School :* Murillo, Bartolomé-Esteban – 4 paintings;

Gallery

Directors

Jennifer Scott became Director of Dulwich Picture Gallery in April 2017, following Ian A.C. Dejardin who had been director since 2005. From 1996 to 2005,

Desmond Shawe-Taylor Desmond Philip Shawe-Taylor (born 30 September 1955) was Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures from 2005 to 2020. He succeeded Christopher Lloyd on Lloyd's retirement.Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, was the Director. Giles Waterfield was Director of the Dulwich Picture Gallery from 1979-1996,

References

External links

Dulwich Picture Gallery official website
*

''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''
A day in the life of Ian A C Dejardin, Director of Dulwich Picture GalleryVirtual tour of the Dulwich Picture Gallery
provided by

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

{{Authority control 1817 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1817 Art museums established in 1817 Art museums and galleries in London John Soane buildings Charities based in London Museums in the London Borough of Southwark Picture Gallery Georgian architecture in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Southwark Grade II* listed museum buildings College of God's Gift