Dulwich Picture Gallery facts for kids
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| Established | 1817 |
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| Location | Dulwich London, SE21 United Kingdom |
| Public transit access |  North Dulwich; West Dulwich |
Dulwich Picture Gallery is a famous art gallery in Dulwich, South London. It opened to the public in 1817. This makes it the oldest public art gallery in England. Sir John Soane, a well-known architect from the Regency era, designed the building. His design was special because of how he used natural light to show off the artworks.
The gallery became an independent charity in 1994. Before that, it was part of the College of God's Gift. This college was started by an actor and businessman named Edward Alleyn in the early 1600s. The gallery holds one of the best collections of "Old Masters" paintings in the country. These include beautiful French, Italian, and Spanish Baroque paintings. It also has many British portraits from the Tudor era up to the 1800s.
The Dulwich Picture Gallery and its special burial place (mausoleum) are listed as a Grade II* building. This means they are very important historic buildings. The mausoleum is where the founders of the art collection, Francis Bourgeois and Noël Desenfans, are buried.
Contents
History of the Gallery
How the Gallery Started
Edward Alleyn (1566–1626) was a famous actor in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. He also became a successful businessman. He owned parts of the Rose and Fortune Theatres, which were big rivals to the Globe Theatre. His wealth allowed him to buy the Manor of Dulwich in 1605.
Alleyn then started a school called the College of God's Gift in Dulwich. He used his land to support it. The college was for boys and also had homes for poor people nearby. Today, this college has grown into three separate schools: Dulwich College, Alleyn's School, and James Allen's Girls' School. The original college buildings, homes, and chapel are still next to the gallery.
Alleyn gave the college a collection of paintings. These included portraits of English kings and queens. Later, in 1686, another actor named William Cartwright gave the college 239 pictures. About 80 of these paintings are still at Dulwich today. For a long time, the art collection was not very popular. Visitors often felt disappointed by the "mouldy portraits."
Bourgeois, Desenfans, and Sir John Soane
The art collection at Dulwich greatly improved thanks to Sir Francis Bourgeois (1753–1811) and his business partner, Noël Desenfans (1744–1807). They are seen as the true founders of the Dulwich Picture Gallery as we know it. They ran an art business in London.
In 1790, the King of Poland asked them to create a national art collection for his country. Bourgeois and Desenfans spent five years traveling Europe to buy fine art. However, by 1795, Poland had been divided up by other countries and no longer existed. So, the collection had no home.
Bourgeois and Desenfans tried to sell the collection but couldn't. They kept the paintings in Desenfans' house in London. When Desenfans died in 1807, Bourgeois inherited all the artworks. A friend suggested he give the collection to the College of God's Gift in Dulwich.
Bourgeois decided to do this. He asked Sir John Soane to design a special gallery in Dulwich to show the paintings. He also left £2,000 for building costs. Desenfans' widow added another £4,000. The new gallery was built next to the old college buildings. It opened to art students in 1815 and to the public in 1817. Many famous artists visited the gallery, including John Constable and Vincent van Gogh. Even Charles Dickens mentioned the gallery in his book The Pickwick Papers.
The Gallery Today
In 1966, eight paintings were stolen from the gallery. These included works by Rembrandt and Rubens. Luckily, all the paintings were found and returned within a few days.
One painting, Rembrandt's small Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III (1632), is famous for being stolen and recovered four times! It's even in the Guinness World Records as the most frequently stolen artwork in the world. Since 2010, the gallery has had a much better security system to protect it.
In 1995, the Dulwich Picture Gallery became an independent charity. This meant it could manage itself. In 2017, the gallery celebrated its 200th birthday! They held a competition for young architects to design a temporary building in the gallery grounds. This building, called the 'Dulwich Pavilion', was a place for special events.
People Who Donated Art
Many people have given valuable artworks to the Dulwich Picture Gallery over the years. This has helped the collection grow.
In 1835, William Linley donated his family portraits. These included paintings by famous artists like Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Thomas Lawrence.
William Beechey, a portrait artist, gave the gallery a painting of its founder, Bourgeois, in 1836. This painting was actually on the back of another picture by Joshua Reynolds!
The gallery's collection of British portraits got even better thanks to Charles Fairfax Murray. He was a painter and collector. He donated 40 pictures in 1911, and more in later years.
Gallery Building Design
Dulwich Picture Gallery's design has influenced how many art galleries are built today. Sir John Soane designed the building with connected rooms. Natural light comes in through skylights in the ceiling. This way, the paintings are lit indirectly, which is perfect for viewing art.
Soane's design was very new for his time. Instead of fancy decorated walls, he used plain, raw brick. Many modern art galleries have copied this simple, strong look. The famous architect Philip Johnson once said, "Soane has taught us how to display paintings."
Soane also designed a mausoleum (a special building for burials) for Bourgeois and Desenfans. They, along with Desenfans' wife, are buried there.
During World War II, in 1944, a German bomb badly damaged parts of the gallery. The buildings were repaired and reopened in 1953 by the Queen Mother. In 1999, new parts were added, like a modern cafe and education rooms. Queen Elizabeth II opened the newly refurbished gallery in 2000.
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Exterior view
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Dulwich Picture Gallery exterior looking north
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Exterior – east frontage
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Mausoleum
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The main gallery
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Inside the mausoleum
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The main gallery in 1922
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Room 9 in 1922
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Exterior view in 1922
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Art Collection
The Dulwich Picture Gallery has a wonderful collection of paintings from different art schools. Here are some of the artists whose works you can see:
- Dutch School
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- 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 – 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
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- 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
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- Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger – 1 painting;
- Rubens, Peter Paul – 10 paintings;
- Teniers, David – 19 paintings;
- Van Dyck, Anthony – 5 paintings;
- French School
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- 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
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- Canaletto, (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
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- Murillo, Bartolomé-Esteban – 4 paintings;
Dulwich Picture Gallery images
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Thomas Hudson: Portrait of a Man
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Francesco Albani, Holy Family
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Michael Dahl: Portrait of a Lady
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Michael Dahl: Portrait of a Man
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Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope- The Reverend William Rogers
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William Hogarth: Portrait of a Man
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Bartolomé Estéban Murillo: The Madonna of the Rosary
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Aelbert Cuyp: Cattle near the Maas, with Dordrecht in the distance
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Arent de Gelder: Jacob's Dream
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Sir Peter Lely: Portrait of a Lady in Blue holding a Flower
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Sir Peter Lely: A Boy as a Shepherd
Directors
Jennifer Scott became the director of Dulwich Picture Gallery in April 2017. She followed Ian A.C. Dejardin, who was director from 2005. Before him, Desmond Shawe-Taylor was the director from 1996 to 2005. Giles Waterfield was the director from 1979 to 1996.
See also
In Spanish: Dulwich Picture Gallery para niños
