Experience the thrill of Fragonard's 'The Swing'✨
This iconic painting is more than a scene of 18th-century leisure. It captures a moment of playful intimacy and subtle defiance, reflecting the spirit of its time. Commissioned in secret by a nobleman, the subject was considered too daring by some artists – but Fragonard embraced the challenge with characteristic flair.
Swipe through to explore the details of this celebrated work. Let us know what stands out most to you in the comments.⬇️
Les hasards heureux de l'escarpolette (The Swing)
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
about 1767-1768
The Wallace Collection
🎂✨ Happy Birthday François Boucher! 🎂✨
The Wallace Collection is home to one of the most important collections of paintings by Boucher worldwide. His dreamy, decorative style defined 18th-century art and he brought both elegance and playful sensuality to the court of King Louis XV.
A favourite of the King's influential mistress Madame de Pompadour, Boucher captured her intellect and influence at court. More than a mistress, Madame de Pompadour shaped politics, culture and aesthetics, while mastering the art of image-making centuries before Instagram.
Boucher and Madame de Pompadour's collaboration blended beauty and power, leaving a lasting mark on French visual culture.
If this portrait were posted on Instagram today, what would her caption be?
François Boucher, Madame de Pompadour, 1759
#WallaceCollection #FrançoisBoucher #Rococo #FrenchPainting
Are you ready to come face to face with Cupid at his UK premiere?
Tomorrow, Caravaggio’s Cupid makes his grand entrance, on loan from @gemaeldegalerie . But who is this smirking, mischevious ragazzino...
Cupid has long appeared in art as the catalyst of chaos and passion. In Caravaggio’s ‘Victorious Cupid’, he emerges in his most disarming form. Near life-sized, head cocked to one side and standing bare and brazen, he appears to have ambled straight in from the dark, dusty backstreets of Rome.
From 26 November, Cupid reigns supreme. 🏹
Caravaggio's Cupid
Until 12 April 2026
Free exhibition
#WallaceCollection #Caravaggio #Cupid #Exhibition
🪻Bluebell season
English artist Thomas Gainsborough was #bornonthisday in 1727.
He painted this charming portrait of a young Elizabeth Anne Haverfield, daughter of the Superintendent Gardener at Kew Gardens, in the early 1780s, when he was experimenting with an increasingly loose, fluid style.
Behind Miss Haverfield, the trees sweep sideways in the wind, adding to the romantic spontaneity of the little girl playing with the ribbons on her coat.
See the bluebells springing up from the ground. Bluebells are one of the last spring flowers to appear, making the most of the sunlight before the woodland canopy closes up.
Bluebells still grow at Kew Gardens today.
Say hello to Miss Haverfield in our West Room.
Thomas Gainsborough, Miss Elizabeth Haverfield, early 1780s
#WallaceCollection #ThomasGainsborough #BritishArt
Winston Churchill came often to relax and paint at Château Saint-Georges-Motel, our country home near Dreux, France. His good friend and art mentor Paul Maze had a studio in The Mill on our property. We considered Paul part of our family. Anyway...
In this photo, Winston is painting a picture of the château. That painting is now in a private collection at The Harlan Crow Library. It was once on one of Churchill's Christmas cards. And it is featured in a new book to be released this month entitled 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧, edited by Lucy Davis.
The book is being published to coincide with the @wallacemuseum 's exhibition of the same name. The selection of over fifty paintings from museums, institutions and private collections presents a fascinating backdrop to Winston's times, politics, diplomacy and interests.
Winston also painted at Lou Sueil, our villa in Èze, France, and at Casa Alva our home at Hypoluxo Island, Florida.
-- Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan
#art #france #winstonchurchill #Chateau #château
What role did the Wallace Collection play in the Second World War?
Our Director of Collections and Research, Dr Alison Smith, discusses the role of our museum in wartime London, when we staged one of our largest and most popular exhibitions.
Organised by Clementine Churchill, ‘Artists Aid Russia’ brought together 904 artworks, composed of paintings, sculptures, prints, etchings, Lithographs and miniatures.
Held from 1 July to 4 August 1942, with our museum serving as both a cultural showcase and a fundraising effort for the Red Cross 'Aid to Russia Fund', newspaper cuttings report that there were queues stretching round the block.
SEE IT NOW: THE WALLACE COLLECTION AT WAR
Free display
#WallaceCollection #TheWallaceCollectionatWar
‘CHER MAITRE’: WINSTON CHURCHILL & WILLIAM NICHOLSON
For Sir Winston Churchill painting was his “escape from the pressures of public affairs.” He began painting in 1915, during the First World War and continued for the rest of his life. Working in oils, he was drawn to painting landscapes, seascapes, still life and architecture.
Churchill befriended numerous artists, amongst them Walter Sickert, Augustus John and Paul Maze, but the most important friendship was with William Nicholson, whom he described as ‘Cher Maitre’ (Dear Master). He was to declare that Nicholson was “the person who taught me most about painting.”
Nicholson not only painted a portrait of Churchill and his wife Clementine taking breakfast (with their cat) at their home Chartwell in Kent (3) and drew an affectionate caricature (2); he also regularly painted alongside him at Chartwell (6, 8, 9,10).
Sadly Nicholson’s portrait of the Churchills no longer exists - the artist was never happy with it and borrowed it back to make changes in advance of an exhibition at the National Gallery in 1941 - destroying it in frustration. However the study is now at Chartwell (4) in the room where it was painted.
In his still lifes (11,12,13) Nicholson was renowned for his ability to capture the reflection in a lustrous vessel, a quality Churchill sought to emulate in his own paintings (16).
Nicholson encouraged Churchill to cool down his exuberant palette and in the studio at Chartwell there are two paintings of the swimming pool, painted side by side on a summer’s day in 1935 (WN 5, WC 6). There are also several Nicholsons of the black geese (8,9) at Chartwell.
• The exhibition ‘William Nicholson’ is @pallanthousegallery until Sun 10 May. • Winston Churchill: The Painter opens at @wallacemuseum on 23 May. I will be giving a talk there (and online) on Churchill and Nicholson on 8 June.
On 26 June it is the 60th anniversary of @chartwellnt opening to the public - you can visit Churchill’s studio and see several works by both artists in the house.
@nationaltrust@southeastnt
#chartwell #winstonchurchill #churchill #williamnicholson #modernbritishart
Mission accomplished 💫
Conservation complete, Senior Furniture Conservator Jürgen Huber and Curatorial Assistant Julia Van Zandvoort re-install the Venetian chairs in the gallery, surrounded by painted views of Venice.
In the last of our three short films tracing the conservation of the chairs, see the stunning cleaned gilding and the bold choice of fabric for the reupholstery.
#WallaceCollection #Conservation #BehindTheScenes
Peeling back the layers 🪡
Upholstery conservator Heather Porter gets under the surface of our 18th-century Venetian chairs, and Curatorial Assistant Julia Van Zandvoort looks at fabrics for recovering them, made by a company in Venice that still uses 18th-century looms.
This is the second of three short films tracing the conservation of the chairs – see how it turned out in tomorrow’s film.
#WallaceCollection #Conservation #BehindTheScenes
See what goes on behind the scenes in our conservation studio 👀
Our series of three short films trace the conservation of a pair of late 18th-century chairs that used to stand in the Doge’s palace in Venice. In this film, Jürgen Huber, our Senior Furniture Conservator, examines the damaged gilding.
Tomorrow, take a closer look at the upholstery, and then see the splendid chairs re-installed in the gallery.
#WallaceCollection #Conservation #BehindTheScenes #18thCentury
Hi guys, I’ve been the last six months working on this 1:12 scale Georgian room box which has taken nearly 400 hours to complete😆🫣!!
Follow along for the entire build process, as I share with you a glimpse of my techniques with some handy hints and tips along the way🎨🖌️
I’ll be showing you how you can create wooden flooring, period panelling, intricate ceilings, fires with glowing embers, bespoke upholstery and more!
I’m also please to announce that I’ll be exhibiting at this year’s Kensington Dolls House Festival in May, where you’ll be able to see this room in all of its gilded glory🤩🤩
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#dollhouseminiatures #dollhouse #miniature #miniart #handmade
