Courtauld Gallery at Courtauld Institute of Art on artrepublic.com
Exhibition running from Apr 01 2008
The Courtauld Institute of Art was founded in 1932 and is one of the world’s leading academic institutes for the teaching and research of the history of art and conservation. The Courtauld Gallery houses an internationally renowned collection of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture and decorative works of art spanning 600 years of art history. The Courtauld Gallery is particularly celebrated for its outstanding collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings including masterpieces such as Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère and Van Gogh’s iconic Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. The masterpiece architectural creation of Sir William Chambers, Somerset House is considered to be one of the most important eighteenth century buildings in Europe. The Courtauld gallery is situated in the Strand Block, which was originally the home of the Royal Academy Of Arts until it moved to Burlington House in 1837. The Courtauld Gallery has one of the most important and best-loved collections of European paintings and drawings in Britain, ranging from the Renaissance to the 20th century and including a world-famous collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. This extraordinarily rich assembly of works of art was largely formed through a series of major gifts and bequests from some of the leading collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries. The displays at The Courtauld Gallery are currently arranged to reflect the importance and character of these constituent collections. There are eleven Courtauld collections, but the two most important are from Samuel Courtauld and Count Antoine Seilen. Courtauld, a great lover of art, had set up the Courtauld Institute Of Art in 1931, which was the first school in Britain to offer courses in Fine Art. When he died in 1947 he left his extensive collection to the gallery. It includes works from many Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists such as Manet, Degas, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. The collection was actually dedicated to the memory of his beloved late wife, Elizabeth. Count Seilen's collection includes works from the fourteenth to the twentieth century, fine examples of works by Rubens, Tielopo and some rare Flemish and Italian early paintings. Highlights of the collection are Cranach's Adam and Eve, The Rubens Room, Two Dancers by Degas, Self Portrait With Bandaged Ear by Van Gogh, La Loge by Renoir and Bar At The Folies-Bergere by Manet. There is also a section for contemporary British artists such as Ben Nicholson, Roger Fry and Duncan Grant. Image Credits: Image 1: Edouard Manet (1832-83) A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1881-2, Oil on canvas, 96 x 130 cm, © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London Image 2: Lucas Cranach I (1472-1553), Adam and Eve, 1526, Oil on panel, 117.1 x 80.5 cm, © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London  |
