The Wallace Collection

For my Art & Society class we went to the Wallace Collection (wallacecollection.org) located at Hertford House, Manchester Square. Closest tube stops Baker Street (Bakerloo Line) or possibly Oxford Circus (Bakerloo Line). And somewhere near High Marylebone Street and Regent Street. The Wallace collection is in fact a unique collection compiled by a super duper high class rich family of five generations that were all about the Grand Tour. The Grand Tour, the way I see it, was the ultimate college /  study abroad experience. Wealthy families would send their sons on an European excursion in order to be better educated and come home well-rounded. The new money families - traders / merchants - were able to give their children an education but also in a sense, give them a higher rank in society because they became 'cultured'. The old money families participated too, as they always do. The Grand Tours lasted anywhere from three months to three years! And what better way to remember your journey than some souvenirs right? So instead of today's magnets and lousy t-shirts, these Grand Tourers bought home Titans. Rubens. and Da Vincis. Wonderfully the private household was opened free to the public in 1897.

In comparison I would say that I was anticipating an Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (The Fenway. Boston MA) kinda thing. The Wallace Collection, lacking in the over-elaborate inner courtyard the ISG sports, made up for in everything else. Everything is well lit too. And that makes all the difference. Each room is labelled according to the use or genre: Dining Room, Billiard Room, European Armoury, 19th Century Gallery. Since I was with my school group (so middle school sounding) we concentrated on certain rooms and specific paintings. In the rooms we went into most contained but were not limited to:

Paintings [from larger-than-real-life to 7x7 in]

Furniture [side-tables were all the rage apparently, upholstered chairs, and large cabinets]

Clocks [great mythological swirling creatures and figures quite distracting me from actually caring about the time. Note: the clocks seem to all be off from one another by a minute in an effort, I assume, to not chime all at once]

Statues [marble busts, a lot of free standing bronze]

Each room was adorned with curtains and matching wall coverings. I was not able to see the Ground Floor but the display is mostly glass cases much like a museum. But any ways it was amazing to see a spectacular accumulation of art. And such great taste. I should have taken better notes on the paintings and other such decorations (sorry!) But here are a couple things I learned today. The Rape of Europa by Titian I remember studying in my high school and college classes. Not my favourite style but because of the elements being epic tale + large sky + Titian I assumed this painting was a good six at least five feet in any direction. There it was above a door on the far side of the room a whopping  estimated, 1'10"x 2' (57.5 x 71.5 cm). I had not expected it to be in the collection and never guessed it would be relegated to a corner. Another interesting tid-bit about a Titian - His Perseus and Andromeda painting was in fact what I imagined The Rape of Europa to be like 175 x 189.5 cm. A painting big enough that you have to take a couple steps back cause the light is glaring off of it. Catch here? There was little glare on this painting even when we were standing too close to it. At first I thought well maybe it's tempera? Was that possible? Or maybe this was some freak fresco that was oddly painted over? Not at all. Reason for the darkening of the paint and the lack-of-lustre was in fact because this painting was originally installed in the bathroom. The bathroom?! I want a Titian in my bathroom! Can you imagine going to a formal ball and upon stepping into the loo finding a Titan. You know no big deal. I don't think I have ever been to a washroom / bathroom / what-ever-you-want-to-call-it room where there was enough space to put that painting. And also I was imagining the horrified looks on today's restorers' faces after hearing the back story. I wonder also what Titian might have felt.

In the Dinning Room there are two Canaletto paintings, Venice: the Bacino di San Marco from the Canale della Giudecca and Venice: the Bacino di San Marco from San Giorgio Maggiore. If the viewer is to stand with the first painting on their left side and the second painting on their right facing the inner court yard - turn your head slowly and ta-da! the Venice 'sky-line'. Canaletto was criticised at the time for painting just to make a profit in the tourist market. To the best of my knowledge there are more Canaletto's outside Italy than remain in the country. To me these two paintings form the ideal postcard. A realistic, everyday image of Venice, that includes well known landmarks. Which is what this whole Collection is about. Being able to experience the Grand Tour. Each piece was considered, chosen, bought, and displayed by the line of Marquesses of Hertford and lastly Sir Richard Wallace. They gathered together centuries, cultures, and countries to display them eventually for the public to marvel at. So instead of postcards why don't we all go out and bring something back in the style of The Wallace Collection?