I have been commissioned to design and produce a range of bespoke jewellery for the Dulwich Picture Gallery (DPG) and on Tuesday I went along with my cameras to take the photos. I have been to the DPG before but not in a while and perhaps I was looking at it through different eyes this time. Although the building itself is quite austere, it is a nice simple building set in lovely grounds. Started in 1811 it was in fact the first ever purpose built art gallery and as such is about to celebrate its bicentennial next year. Its use of natural light from the roof went on to be the format for almost every art gallery built subsequently. The bulk of the collection was put together for the brother of the king of Poland with a view to it being the national collection for Poland. Events took a hand, Poland was partitioned in 1795 and the king forced to abdicate and the collection was left without a home. The British government of the day was not up for establishing a national collection and eventually, the then owner of the collection – Bourgeois, commissioned his friend Sir John Soanes to build a suitable building to house both the collection and the remains of the original collector – Desenfans. That’s enough history for me but there will be more details on the
Dulwich Picture Gallery website if you yearn to know more . . .
Comprising only six rooms the gallery is a manageable size so at the end you feel uplifted by the experience of viewing exquisite paintings without being completely shattered as you can be with the big art galleries.
Add to that a beautiful cafe and as it turned out for me a sunny day and you have the perfect day out! At the moment there is a wonderful exhibition of paintings by the Wyeth family – again small but very beautiful.
