On Saturday 12 January, 11am – 4pm, travel back in time to the seventeenth century…

Activites include:

• Meet characters from the seventeenth century
• Join Tabla and Baroque music workshops
• Try family crafts, including Henna and ceramic paintings
• Enjoy talks and games
• Journey East at our community exhibition

This wonderful, completely free day out is a chance for all the family to explore the Wallace Collection, and to find out about the seventeenth century in a fun and friendly environment. No need to book, just drop in at anytime through the day to spend A Day in the Seventeenth Century!

The talks will focus on paintings from the British, French and Spanish Royal Courts and will take place in the galleries after hours. Join us before each talk for a private drinks reception, at 6.00pm, and then enjoy our unique programme of talks:

Monday 5 November
Fête Galante – Paintings from Eighteenth-Century France

Monday 19 November
Painting for the Spanish Court

Monday 26 November
British Royal Academicians

6.00pm Drinks, 6.30 – 7.30pm Talk

Benefactor levels start at £600. For more information on becoming a Benefactor and the benefits you can enjoy, you can pick up a leaflet at the front information desk, or simply click here. For more information about the private Insight Talks or to book your place, please contact Bethany Humphries, Development Officer on 020 7563 9558 or benefactors@wallacecollection.org

From photoshoots to puppet-making, 18th-century French dancing to digital treasure hunts, there was something for everyone, and the day was a great success!

Keep checking here for details of our 16th-century day in September, and for next year’s day in the 18th century! And don’t forget we host all sorts of other fun and interactive activities throughout the year (many for free).

Free drink and free entry. Places are limited. Call 020 7563 9567 or e-mail guestlist@wallacecollection.org for more information or to book a place.

30 March 2012, 6-9pm

Guests will be treated to a champage reception and private view of the new galleries, followed by a sumptuous dinner in the glazed courtyard, period music and an auction conducted by Jonathan Horwich, Global Director of Pictures, Bonhams.

There will also be a silent auction of unique Dutch contemporary ceramics based on our Dutch Old Master paintings, generously sponsored by Bonhams. For more information, click here. To bid, go to www.bonhams.com.

Tickets for this exciting event are £295 per person or £2800 for a table of ten. For more information, or to book, click here, call 020 7563 9567 or e-mail donate@wallacecollection.org.

Proceeds from the dinner will go towards the first volume of the Wallace Collection’s Sculpture Catalogue.

This event is being run by the Hertford House Trust (Charity Number: 1109802) in support of the Wallace Collection’s charitable activities.

On Thursday 22nd September join Associate Artist Kevin Coates at 1pm for a very special final tour of his exhibition Time Regained (free of charge).

On Friday 23rd September, due to popular demand, Kevin Coates will be joined once again by Professor Christopher Cook on a special tour of the Great Gallery at 2pm. Meet them as they discuss some of the paintings that inspired Kevin’s work currently on display in the Wallace Collection. Please note that this talk will be recorded (free of charge).

No booking required and everyone is welcome.

For more information please contact 020 7563 9527 or clemence.pilven@wallacecollection.org

Venez décrouvir les chefs-d’oeuvre de la Wallace Collection autour d’une visite guidée en français. Ces visites sont gratuites et ouvertes à tous, alors venez nombreux: les samedi 9 octobre et 13 novembre à 12h30.

Pour plus d’informations, contactez le 020 7563 9527 ou clemence.pilven@wallacecollection.org

The Centenary Project was made possible with the help of a grant of £7.243 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, together with over £3million of private donations.  This has resulted in nearly three million visitors enjoying this magnificent Collection over the last ten years, representing a 69% increase on visitors from the preceding ten years, attracted in no small part by the enhanced facilities provided by the Centenary Project. The creation of the Exhibition Galleries has allowed the Collection to stage exhibitions for the first time.  Thirty-nine have been held in the last ten years, attracting over 650,000 visitors. The topics have been as diverse as the Collection itself, but all have had some connection to the works of art in the Wallace Collection, including paintings, drawings, decorative arts, and even, uniquely, the first exhibition in a national museum ever curated by children.  Loans have given visitors the chance to explore pieces from world-class institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum, the Musée du Louvre and the Vatican Museums, as well as from seminal private collections. 

Other public spaces have allowed the development of an extensive programme of public events. Adults can sample activities ranging from practical art classes, conservation displays, study days, and community activities, benefiting more vulnerable groups, including the first programme for deaf visitors. The new Visitors’ Library has delivered a fascinating resource for thousands of members of the public and allowed the Collection, alongside partners, to run three postgraduate courses, furthering scholarship. These spaces have also opened up accessibility for children and families, offering armour handling and interactive activities in the Studio. This is fitting as the Collection itself was the result of one family’s passion and retains a unique family atmosphere. 

The Centenary Project has also provided the opportunity for the Collection to generate a large percentage of its income from the restaurant by day and from corporate and private events in the evenings, totalling nearly £7 million to date.  This in turn has funded our public, community and educational programmes. All of these activities have enabled the Collection to be more welcoming, creating reasons to visit more regularly (especially important for a museum which, by the terms of Lady Wallace’s bequest, cannot acquire or lend.)

Alongside the successes of the Centenary Project are the glorious refurbishments of the Collection’s twelve rooms containing the fine and decorative arts of eighteenth-century France.  The last of these, the Boudoir Cabinet, for gold boxes and miniatures, also opened on 22 June.  This is a magical and glowing space where these exquisite works of art can be enjoyed in a new and vibrant setting.  While the Centenary Project has given the public all the facilities to enhance their visit to the Wallace Collection, it has also insured that the real essence of the Wallace Collection, the superlative works of art, are able to shine resplendent in a domestic setting similar to how they were originally intended.  These rooms give the visitor the most amazing sense of ownership and, as visitor surveys show, foster an evocative and emotional connection with this great Collection.

The last ten years have seen public awareness of the Wallace Collection increase on a mammoth scale and visitor perceptions are at an all-time high, consistently beating much larger organisations in popularity polls (as shown by Trip Advisor). The Collection is immensely grateful to all those who through their generous philanthropy have made this possible and now looks to the next ten years to build on these successes.