Home > Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art is a listed organisation of the University of London specialising in the study of the History of art. It was founded in 1932 by the industrialist and art collector Samuel Courtauld and was originally based in 20 Portman Square, London. Since 1989 the Institute has been based in Somerset House.1 The Courtauld Gallery
The art collection at the Institute was begun by its founder, Samuel Courtauld , who left an extensive collection of mainly French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in 1932, which was enhanced by further gifts in the 1930s and a bequest in 1948. His collection included such masterworks as as Edouard Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergère and a version of his Déjeuner sur l'Herbe, Renoir's La Loge, ladscapes by Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, a ballet scene by Edgar Degas and a group of eight major works by CézannePaul Cezanne ( January 19, 1839 October 22, 1906), the painter of and from Aix-en-Provence, was the bridge from Impressionism to Cubism. In paintings such as the 1885 Mont Sainte-Victoire and 1887 Madame Cezanne we can see the inspiration for the Cubists. Other paintings include Van Gogh'sVincent Willem van Gogh ( March 30, 1853 July 29, 1890) was a Dutch painter, generally considered one of the greatest painters in European art history. He produced all of his work (some 900 paintings and 1100 drawings) during a period of only 10 years bef Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Cherry Orchard, Gauguin'sPaul Gauguin ( June 7, 1848 May 9, 1903) was an Impressionist painter. Born Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin in Paris, France, he descended from Spanish settlers in South America and the viceroy of Peru, and spent his early childhood in Lima. After his education Nevermore and Te Rerioa, as well as important works by Seurat, Toulouse-LautrecHenri de Toulouse-Lautrec ( November 24, 1864 September 9, 1901) was a French painter. Toulouse-Lautrec was born in Albi, Tarn in the Midi-Pyrenees Region of France. From an old aristocratic family that had lost much of its prestige, he was the son of Com and ModiglianiAmedeo Clemente Modigliani ( July 12, 1884 January 24, 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor. He was born in Livorno, Tuscany, Italy, the fourth child of the Jewish family of Flaminio Modigliani and his French-born wife, Eugenie Garsin and was raised.
Following the death of the eminent art critic Roger FryRoger Eliot Fry ( 14 December 1866 9 September 1934) was an English artist and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury group. Fry was born in London and specialised in landscape painting. In 1910, he organised an exhibition for the Post-Impressionists, the in 1934Events January-April January 1 Alcatraz becomes a federal prison. January 7 First Flash Gordon comic strip is published. January 10 Execution of Marinus van der Lubbe January 24 Einstein visits White House January 26 The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, Ne, the Institute received his collection of 20th-century art . Further bequests were added after the Second World War, most notably the collection of Old Master Paintings assembled by Viscount Lee of Fareham. This included Cranach's Adam and Eve and a sketch in oils by Peter Paul Rubens for what is arguably his masterpiece, the Deposition altarpiece in Antwerp Cathedral. Sir Robert Witt , too, was an outstanding benefactor to the Courtauld and bequeathed his important collection of Old Master and British drawings in 1952. In 1966 Mark Gambier-Parry bequeathed the diverse collection of art formed by his grandfather which ranged from Early Italian Renaissance painting to majolica , medieval enamel and ivory carvings and other unusual art forms.
In 1974 a group of thirteen watercolours by Turner was presented in memory of Sir Stephen Courtauld, famous for restoring Eltham Palace. In 1978 the Courtauld received the Princes Gate Collection of Old Master paintings and drawings formed by Count Antoine Seilern. It includes paintings by Bruegel, Quentin Matsys, Van Dyck and Tiepolo and rivals the Samuel Courtauld Collection in splendour, being strongest in the works of Rubens. The bequest also included a group of 19th- and 20th-century works by Pissarro, Degas, Renoir and Oskar Kokoschka. More recently the Lilian Browse and Alastair Hunter collections have given the Courtauld more late 19th- and 20th-century paintings, drawings and sculptures.
The Courtauld Gallery is open to the public and housed in The Strand Block of Somerset House, which was the first home for the Royal Academy upon its foundation in 1768. The entrance to 'The Great Room', which housed the annual Summer Exhibition, has the formidable inscription 'Let no stranger to the Muses enter' in Ancient Greek.
