Dulwich Picture Gallery
A London art gallery with a fascinating history
There is something very special about the Dulwich Picture Gallery. For one thing, it is well away from the artistic hub of central London and requires an extra effort for anyone who wishes to visit it. That said, the effort is not an enormous one if the visitor is willing to hop on board a suburban overground train at Victoria Station, travel three stops to West Dulwich station and then take a 10–15 minute walk.
The reward for so doing is the viewing of a remarkable collection of paintings that should never have been there in the first place, if all the original plans had been fulfilled.
History of the Gallery
In 1790 Prince Michal Poniatowski, brother of the King of Poland, commissioned a London-based art dealer, Noel Desenfans, to acquire pictures that would be suitable for a royal collection. For five years he did so enthusiastically, but in 1795 Poland disappeared off the map when it was partitioned between Austria, Prussia and Russia and the King was forced to abdicate. This left Noel Desenfans with a collection of pictures and no-one to sell them to.
He then became partners with another art dealer, Francis Bourgeois, who proceeded to add to the collection (at Desenfans’s expense). When Desenfans died in 1807…