Feature: THE BIG PICTURE - Exhibition - The Wallace Collection - 110th anniversary sees creation of the Exhibition Galleries

Published: 24 June 2010

THERE was cause for celebration at least twice at The Wallace Collection in Marylebone this week. The world famous institution – which houses internationally important fine and decorative art, particularly from 18th-century France – celebrated its 110th anniversary as a national museum open to the public as well as the 10th anniversay of the Centenary Project. This project has helped enhance the institution’s facilities and has seen visitor numbers rise to three million over the past 10 years.

The creation of the Exhibition Galleries has allowed the Collection to stage exhibitions for the first time. Thirty-nine have been held in the past 10 years covering a wide range of topics, all with some connection to the works of art in the Wallace Collection, including paintings, drawings, decorative arts, and even the first  exhibition in a national museum ever curated  by children. 

Loans have given visitors the chance to explore pieces from world-class institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum, the Musée du Louvre and the Vatican Museums, as well as from seminal private collections.  

The Centenary Project has enabled the Collection to generate a large percentage of its income from its restaurant and from corporate and private events. Funds raised from this, which total nearly £7million to date, have in turn helped fund public, community and educational programmes. 

Glorious refurbishments of 12 of the Collection’s rooms have taken place since the centenary, and on Tuesday the doors were thrown open to the Boudoir Cabinet, which houses gold boxes and miniatures. Described as a “magical, glowing space”, the gallery enables exquisite works of art to be enjoyed  in a vibrant setting. 

The past 10 years have seen public awareness of the Wallace Collection increase on a mammoth scale and visitor perceptions are at an all-time high, consistently beating much larger organisations in popularity polls. 

The Centenary Project has ensured that the real essence of the Wallace Collection, the superlative works of art, are able to shine resplendent in a domestic setting similar to how they were originally intended.   

• Pictured: Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Swing, 1767, oil on canvas

• The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1, free admission, open daily 10am-5pm, 020 7563 9500, www.wallacecollection.org