'Sir Richard Wallace - The Collector'
June 19 2018
Video: The Wallace Collection
Here's an exhibition you really ought to see - a show dedicated to one of the most energetic collectors in art history, Sir Richard Wallace, creator of the eponymous Wallace Collection in London's Manchester Square. The show opens on Wednesday, 20th June, and runs until 6th January 2019. It doesn't just focus on what you might normally expect from the Wallace Collection - say, French 18th Century art - but objects like a gold trophy head from Ghana. More here.
I'm interested in what the Director of the Wallace Collection, Xavier Bray, says in the above video about the generosity of Sir Richard Wallace's collecting ethos. While he was alive he lent his entire collection to an exhibition at Bethnal Green Museum for two years, which was visited by 5 million people. Of course, because of the restrictions put on the Wallace Bequest by Sir Richard's wife, Lady Wallace, no works have ever left Manchester Square on loan. Personally, I think it's time to look again at that apparent restriction (which is not in fact as emphatic as is usually suggested), so that the treasures of the Wallace Collection can be shared around the country - and even the world - just as Sir Richard himself undoubtedly intended.
Update - the show gets five stars in The Guardian.
