The world’s first purpose-built public art gallery
Dulwich Picture Gallery opened in 1817 in London to house a bequest of Old Masters from the painter and collector Sir Francis Bourgeois RA, “for the inspection of the public.” The elegant building was designed by the leading British architect Sir John Soane and incorporates a mausoleum for the museum’s founders – a gem in itself featuring sarcophagi and sacrificial altars. The artists Constable, Monet and Van Gogh all made visits to the gallery, and the world-class collection is strong in French, Italian and Spanish Baroque schools and British portraiture from the Tudor times to the 19th century. It includes exceptional works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Pouissin, Canaletto and Gainsborough, and was originally put together by Bourgeois and his friend Noël Desenfans for Stanislaus Augustus, King of Poland. The pair set about creating a gallery after the king was overthrown and the collection became homeless. Today the museum also showcases widely-admired and lesser-known artists through temporary exhibitions.
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