History Dulwich_Picture_Gallery

1 history

1.1 history of gallery
1.2 later history – bourgeois, desenfans , sir john soane
1.3 modern history
1.4 donors

history

entrance.


early history of gallery

edward alleyn (1566–1626) actor became entrepreneur in elizabethan theatre. commercial interests in rose , fortune theatres (a major competitor globe theatre), gave him sufficient wealth acquire manor of dulwich in 1605. founded college @ dulwich, college of god s gift , , endowed estate. school boys , next almshouses local poor. college became 3 separate beneficiary schools – dulwich college, alleyn s school, , james allen s girls school, named after 18th-century headmaster. college, attached almshouses , chapel survive next gallery on gallery road, although exterior has undergone extensive renovation.

alleyn bequeathed college of collection of works including portraits of kings , queens of england. college retained connections theatre , in 1686, actor william cartwright (1606–1686) bequeathed collection of 239 pictures, of 80 identifiable @ dulwich.

in 18th century, collection displayed on first floor of wing of old college. attracted few additions during period, , recorded descriptions of gallery suggest disappointment , apathy visitors. art historian , whig politician horace walpole wrote saw hundred mouldy portraits among apostles sibyls , kings of england .

later history – bourgeois, desenfans , sir john soane

francis bourgeois , noël desenfans

the dulwich collection improved in size , quality sir francis bourgeois (1753–1811), switzerland, , business partner, frenchman noël desenfans (1744–1807). involvement saw gallery make significant steps towards present state, , credited founders of dulwich picture gallery. ran art dealership in london , in 1790 commissioned king of polish–lithuanian commonwealth, stanislaus augustus, assemble national collection poland encourage fine arts in country. desenfans had lobbied british government create similar british national collection , offered contribute it, unenthusiastically received. touring around europe buying fine art, bourgeois , desenfans took 5 years assemble collection, 1795 polish–lithuanian commonwealth had been partitioned , no longer existed.

bourgeois , desenfans attempted sell collection unsuccessful. instead, sold small pieces fund purchase of other important works , kept collection in desenfans house in charlotte street. after death of desenfans in 1807, bourgeois inherited collection. commissioned sir john soane design , construct mausoleum @ desenfans house, unable secure freehold. bourgeois bequeathed collection college of god s gift on advice of actor john philip kemble, friend of both dealers. bourgeois left instructions in construction of gallery in dulwich, designed soane, in display collection. next original college buildings chapel. left £2,000 construction costs , £4,000 contributed desenfan s widow.

the gallery opened students of royal academy of arts in 1815, 2 years before official opening public, delay due problem gallery s heating system. became popular venue copyists london schools of art. collection frequented many cultural figures on next hundred years, many of whom first visited students, including john constable, william etty, joseph mallord william turner, , later vincent van gogh. charles dickens mentions dulwich picture gallery in novel pickwick papers, samuel pickwick, novel s protagonist, visitor gallery in retirement.

modern history

rembrandt, portrait of jacob de gheyn iii.

in hours of 31 december 1966 8 paintings stolen, 3 rembrandt, girl @ window, version of portrait of titus , portrait of fellow artist, jacob de gheyn lll, 3 rubens, 3 women cornucopia, st. barbara , 3 graces; , one, lady playing on clavicord gerrit dou , susannah , elders adam elsheimer. worth @ least £3 million reward of £1,000 offered return. within few days paintings recovered after investigation led detective superintendent charles hewett, had investigated suspected serial killer dr john bodkin adams. michael hall, unemployed ambulance driver, 1 of thieves caught , sentenced 5 years in prison.

rembrandt s small portrait of jacob de gheyn iii has been stolen , recovered 4 times, in 1983, , listed in guinness book of records stolen artwork in world. has been recovered left-luggage office in west germany in 1986; returned anonymously; found on of bicycle; , discovered under bench in graveyard in streatham. painting guarded upgraded security system.

in 1995 major reorganisation of historic alleyn s college charity resulted in reconstitution of dulwich picture gallery independent registered charity.

the gallery marks bicentenary in 2017. part of celebrations gallery partnered london festival of architecture hold competition emerging architects create ‘dulwich pavilion’, temporary events structure built in gallery’s historic grounds during summer of 2017. competition won london-based architecture practice if_do.

donors

the judde memorial, cartwright bequest, 1686.

the gallery attracted donors earliest days. in 1835, william linley [1771–1835] — last of musical , theatrical family, (many of whom had connections dulwich college) , brother-in-law playwright richard sheridan — bequeathed collection of family portraits gallery. among these paintings works thomas gainsborough, archer james oliver, james lonsdale , sir thomas lawrence.

the portraitist , royal academician william beechey [1753–1839] donated picture of gallery s founder bourgeois had painted on of picture joshua reynolds in 1836 adding 2 images collection, although 1 can shown @ time. in 2012, side of canvas on display reynolds.

british portrait art became better represented due benefaction of charles fairfax murray, pre-raphaelite painter, collector , dealer. group of 40 pictures donated murray in 1911 , others followed in 1915 , 1917–18.