I went to a members' preview of the new exhibition at the National Gallery about the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings collected or payed for by the Courtauld family. It's made up of a selection of 40 paintings picked from the collections of the Courtauld Gallery, the National Gallery, the Tate collection and a few private collections. The exhibition is in three rooms normally assigned to the Impressionists in the National Gallery collection, and the paintings not associated with this exhibition are currently on show in the Central Hall of the Gallery.
I've seen the majority of the paintings many times - and so will you if you've visited the National Gallery or the Courtauld Gallery - but I haven't seen them hung in this particular way and that made it a very pleasant experience. They're hung by artist rather than chronologically or by theme and that added to the pleasure of seeing them showcased in the exhibition. So we have four Van Gogh's hung together and nine Cezannes, as well as other artists.
There were giant photos of some of the paintings hung in situ in the Courtauld's house before they found their way onto the walls of galleries and this was bit of a thrill. Imagine being a visitor and being able to see all these glorious paintings, maybe even touching them? Wouldn't that be an amazing experience?
There are paintings (and sometimes rows of paintings) by Manet and Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissaro, Seurat, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Bonnard and more. It's not a huge exhibition by any means but there's a great selection of paintings, all of which can be traced back to the Courtauld family. It's nice to see the notes telling us that 'X' was the first by him in the collection or that 'Y' was bought several months after it was completed. It's one of the things about 'modern' art that so much is documented about it that you can trace it back to the studio on a specific date in some cases to provide a history.
The exhibition coincides with the closure of the Courtauld Gallery for two years while it refurbishes the building, so it's one way of seeing some of its great collection in the paint (always so much better than seeing reproductions). It's also very nice to see the collections of different galleries 'merged' in this way so you see the works by the artist as specifically collected by someone rather than just a random hang on a gallery wall (if they're ever 'randomly' hung!).
The exhibition opens on Monday 17 September and is bound to be popular so book your tickets in advance.
I've seen the majority of the paintings many times - and so will you if you've visited the National Gallery or the Courtauld Gallery - but I haven't seen them hung in this particular way and that made it a very pleasant experience. They're hung by artist rather than chronologically or by theme and that added to the pleasure of seeing them showcased in the exhibition. So we have four Van Gogh's hung together and nine Cezannes, as well as other artists.
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