About The Courtauld Gallery
The Courtauld Gallery is closed while we embark on our major transformational project called Courtauld Connects.
The Courtauld Gallery Description
Discover our world-famous collection of paintings, drawings and decorative arts. Ranging from the Middle Ages to the 20th century the collection is displayed in the elegant surroundings of Somerset House.
The Courtauld is best known for its outstanding Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including celebrated works by Monet, Renoir, Degas and Gauguin as well as a major group of paintings by Cézanne. Visitors can enjoy iconic masteries such as Manet's 'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère' and Van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with Badaged Ear. '
Reviews
"fill your eyes, brain and soul with some of the best works of impressionism and early modernism you’re ever likely to see."
Time Out's Eddie Frankel reminds you why you need to visit The Courtauld Gallery before we temporarily close from 3 September 2018 for a two year refurbishment!
Receive 30% off when you shop online at The Courtauld Shop.
Offer ends Monday 6 August 2018.
www.courtauldshop.com.
The Annual Fund supports our Public Programmes team; whose mission is to make art and art history more widely accessible to people of all ages by encouraging exploration of our collection through engagement with artists, Courtauld academics, students and curators.
DONATE today to help us continue to make art more accessible.
Our Annual Fund support underpins all of our work at the Courtauld and enables us to continue to provide exceptional exhibitions, teaching, learning and research facilities that push the boundaries of creativity and debate in the visual arts. Donate today.
Griselda Pollock discuses the themes in our celebrated Masterpiece by Édouard Manet 'A Bar at the Folies-Bergère' in the latest film produced by HENI Talks.
Watch the film then visit this magnificent work before we temporarily close from 3 September 2018.
Edgar Degas was born #OnThisDay in 1834. Degas was fascinated by ballet. These dancers are probably performing the Ballet des Roses, staged by the Paris Opera company during performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Degas often used unconventional viewpoints to evoke modern urban life. We look down on these two ballerinas, as if watching them from a box beside the stage. They seem to interact, though their expressions and poses are hard to read. Our view of the third dancer, on the far left, is deliberately cut off.
Enhance your feed and explore behind the scenes of our unique collection by following us on Instagram www.instagram.com/courtauld 📸✨
#Cézanne #MontagneSainteVictoire
🇨🇵 Happy Bastille Day 🇨🇵️ We’re taking this opportunity to celebrate some of the French artists #InOurCollection… Manet, Cézanne, Degas, Rousseau! Don’t miss the final chance to visit The Courtauld Gallery before our temporary closure beginning September 2018.
Book here: courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/visit/buy-tickets -online
Don’t miss this last weekend to see our Drawings Gallery exhibition ‘Artists at Work’, closing Sunday 15 July.
Discover artists’ dwellings, dreams and musings as we are invited to look over their shoulders and share in the moment of creation.
... Book tickets now: http://ow.ly/REaT30kSIsb
George Grosz (1893-1959), ‘Gute Zeit’ (Good Times), 1940, Katrin Bellinger Collection. © Estate of George Grosz, Princeton, N.J. / DACS 2018
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Don’t miss the last weekend to see our fabulous MA Curating the Art Museum show ‘There Not There’, closing Sunday 15 July ✨ An exhibition featuring 12 international contemporary artists who have interrogated the boundary between absence and presence.
Find out more at therenotthere.co.uk
#ThereNotThere
Amedeo Modigliani was born #OnThisDay in 1884. Born in Livorno, Italy and working in Paris from 1906, Modigliani developed a unique and instantly recognisable pictorial style. Though meeting little success during their time, his emotionally intense portraits and seductive nudes are now among the best-loved paintings of the 20th century. Don’t miss his ‘Female Nude’ from our collection on display at the Ulster Museum, Belfast until Sunday 28 October 2018.
With #ArtistsatWork in our Drawings Gallery we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to shed some light on our artist colleagues at The Courtauld! 📷🎨
Here we have our Public Programmes Artist Educator and Arts Council Collection represented painter Matthew Krishanu. Check out his art and practice here: http://ow.ly/wRss30kU1rv
'Artists at Work' is on display in the Drawings Gallery until 15 July 2018. Don't miss it 🌟
Jay-Z and Beyoncé might be the biggest names hitting the Louvre this year but they aren't the first to find artistic inspiration in its hallowed halls. This ink sketch by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, born #OnThisDay in 1834, depicts the Louvre’s Long Gallery in 1894!
Camille Pissarro was born #OnThisDay in 1830. This rapidly painted scene #InOurCollection shows temporary stalls set up for a fair in L’Hermitage, France. L’Hermitage was a cluster of houses on the outskirts of the town of Pontoise. Pissarro lived here on and off between 1866 and 1883. Close inspection of the picture reveals a number of finely dressed figures amongst the crowd. They may be visitors from Paris, located about twenty miles away.
This week is the last to see our Drawings Gallery exhibition #ArtistsatWork closing this Sunday 15 July 👨🎨✍️
Whether in their studios or art academies, out and about sketching a landscape or recording their own likeness in a mirror, artists have long taken pleasure in representing themselves at work. Explore the theme of the artist at work through a selection of drawings from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries.
Book now: courtauld.ac.uk/…/what…/exhibitions-d isplays/...artists-at-work
Horst Janssen (1929-1995), The atelier of the sculptor Remo Rossi, Locarno, 1972, Private collection, © DACS 2018
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🌈 Happy Pride 2018 🌈 This 18th-century sketch in our collection shows Peg Woffington dressed in the costume of a male volunteer. Margaret ‘Peg’ Woffington (1720-1760) was a well-known Irish actress in Georgian London. In this image she’s portrayed as a women dressed as a man, but in other performances her gender was deliberately obscured – a Georgian drag king! Beyond her acting, Peg was a lively and boundary-breaking society figure. In 1750 she became the first female member and president of the all-male dining club ‘Beefsteak Club’.
#Pride
👣WALKING TOUR👣
Join the MA Curating the Art Museum group this Saturday for a special exhibition viewing of ‘There Not There’ in The Courtauld Gallery and a tour of Covent Garden London led by Unseen Tours.
The tour takes inspiration from works in the exhibition taking the theme beyond the gallery walls to expose the untold stories and secret histories of some of London’s most bustling areas.
... Unseen London tours are led by homeless, ex-homeless and vulnerably housed people. Saturday’s tour will be led by Viv, who has been on the streets on and off for the last sixteen years. She loves knitting, crafts and discovering the history of her local area!
Get your ticket on therenotthere.co.uk. £6 full price; £4 concessions.
Don’t miss out!
Armando Andrade Tudela, Billboard 12 (2003) Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © Armando Andrade Tudela
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With the opening of #ArtistsatWork in our Drawings Gallery we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to shed some light on our artist colleagues at The Courtauld! 📷🎨
Here we have the Research Forum's Event Producer Jessica Akerman! Check out her art and practice here: http://ow.ly/8d7p30kMLzZ
'Artists at Work' is on display in the Drawings Gallery until 15 July 2018. Don't miss it 🌟
The Annual Fund support underpins all of our work at The Courtauld and enables us to continue to conserve and safeguard our prestigious collection as well as provide exceptional teaching, learning and research facilities that push the boundaries of creativity and debate in the visual arts.
Discover how your support contributed to the conservation of our Portrait of Don Francisco de Saavedra.
Support today: courtauld.ac.uk/annual-fund
Wonderful small gallery with one of the largest impressionist collections in the world. Housed in part of Somerset House with a cafe and gift shop.
This is a wonderful gem of a place. The collection is amazing,mostly early Renaissance and Impressionist art, in a small manor setting. Really lovely works with a few visitors so you can take your time , see the work, and not be overwhelmed by how much there is to see. It’s truly the best thing we did on this trip. Go! You won’t regret it.
This is a great gallery and well worth the visit. There are a lot of big name exhibits here and you can take your time to ponder over them without being elbowed by other art lovers
The welcome from the lovely man on the desk was great as well as helpful staff throughout the building. I loved the range of artwork. I will definitely be visiting again.
The most charming museum in London...
With a great Impressionist Exhibition.
A "must go" experience in the city...
The Courtauld is such a little gem of a gallery. I particularly enjoyed the Soutine exhibition - what a wonderful collection of charmingly executed portraits. The character of each individual shone through. Really loved it.
Simply astounding. You've known many of these masterpieces for ever without having had an idea where they are at home. In one of the most beautiful museums on earth.
Most fabulous collection, art heaven with so many famous painters work in a relatively small space. Must visit, more than worth it for the small admission price and free for children to visit. My children are all under 8 and even they enjoyed it too!
Like some other reviewers, this gem of an art gallery had escaped my notice despite all my trips to London over the years. I had once got as far as using the cafe and being fascinated with the elegant old stairs, but now I know about the gallery and it’s contents it will be a priority visit on future trips.
I loved the warmth and intimacy of the old rooms and the way the pictures were exhibited and the fact that it was not too crowded.
I also loved the Soutine exhibition and the free guided tour and talk at 3pm.
Its one of London's really great galleries. My second time here for the Rodin and Dance exhibition but there was so much else. Several times I said "oh that's here toooo" as well as making several discovery. Has that lovely feeling of the smaller gallery. This exhibition was wonderful, so moved by those terracottas.
Café also first class as is the shop.
It's a lovely small gallery with quite a few famous pictures. The Soutine exhibition is especially good. You can really get a sense of the personalities of the sitters. I recommend a visit, combined with a free tour of Somerset House it makes a nice day out
I lived in London for ten years and never visited the Courtauld gallery. I'm visiting from Sydney and am planning to do an art appreciation course. The gallery has a fantastic collection of Impressionist and later twentieth century art. And best of all it's not packed like the National. A gem!
Historical, beautiful exhibition displayed in nice rooms.
Excellent collection of art and the special exhibit Soutine was very enjoyable. Staff were very friendly and helpful... very nice gift shop.
A worthwhile trip if you are a fan of the Impressionists and Post- Impressionist art era. A fantastic collection for a gallery that is on the smaller side. The size of the gallery actually made it more approachable than some of the bigger galleries around London. Smaller crowds were also a big plus. You didn't have to fight off hoards of people just to glimpse some of the more famous paintings, you could actually approach and study them!
"A Bar at the Folies-Bergere" by Edouard Manet was the first painting I studied as an art student. It is for many an iconic and relatable entry into the impressionists. I had always loved this painting and until a friend told me that it was a painting he had always wanted to see I hadn't really thought about where it was. When we realized that we had an amazing opportunity to view it together, Wow! What a privilege! I was stunned at Manet's technique. You could feel where he struggled with perspective, detail and the texture of his paint. 135 years later it still feels fresh and relevant. Having survived two world wars, the painting is still in surprisingly good shape. The jewel in the crown of the Courtauld Gallery. The painting dates from a time pre-internet and pre-selfies where the artist had to observe, relate to his subject, translate human emotion and then communicate it to humanity. A brilliant treatise into human behaviour.
Well it’s small, but there are some great paintings like my favorite Vincent Van Gogh’s self portrait, Monet’s landscapes, and also paintings of other famous Impressionists like Paul Gauguin, Manet, Cezanne, I really enjoyed my time there. If you are interested in Renaissance, they have a lot of collections too.
Love the gallery. Not very big which adds to the pleasure because one doesn't feel one has missed the meat of the collection. There is also the possibility to see works by a variety of artists under one roof.
Just very simply very good, very friendly and helpful staff.
Wonderful small gallery with one of the largest impressionist collections in the world. Housed in part of Somerset House with a cafe and gift shop.
This is a wonderful gem of a place. The collection is amazing,mostly early Renaissance and Impressionist art, in a small manor setting. Really lovely works with a few visitors so you can take your time , see the work, and not be overwhelmed by how much there is to see. It’s truly the best thing we did on this trip. Go! You won’t regret it.
This is a great gallery and well worth the visit. There are a lot of big name exhibits here and you can take your time to ponder over them without being elbowed by other art lovers
The welcome from the lovely man on the desk was great as well as helpful staff throughout the building. I loved the range of artwork. I will definitely be visiting again.
The most charming museum in London...
With a great Impressionist Exhibition.
A "must go" experience in the city...
The Courtauld is such a little gem of a gallery. I particularly enjoyed the Soutine exhibition - what a wonderful collection of charmingly executed portraits. The character of each individual shone through. Really loved it.
Simply astounding. You've known many of these masterpieces for ever without having had an idea where they are at home. In one of the most beautiful museums on earth.
Most fabulous collection, art heaven with so many famous painters work in a relatively small space. Must visit, more than worth it for the small admission price and free for children to visit. My children are all under 8 and even they enjoyed it too!
Like some other reviewers, this gem of an art gallery had escaped my notice despite all my trips to London over the years. I had once got as far as using the cafe and being fascinated with the elegant old stairs, but now I know about the gallery and it’s contents it will be a priority visit on future trips.
I loved the warmth and intimacy of the old rooms and the way the pictures were exhibited and the fact that it was not too crowded.
I also loved the Soutine exhibition and the free guided tour and talk at 3pm.
Its one of London's really great galleries. My second time here for the Rodin and Dance exhibition but there was so much else. Several times I said "oh that's here toooo" as well as making several discovery. Has that lovely feeling of the smaller gallery. This exhibition was wonderful, so moved by those terracottas.
Café also first class as is the shop.
It's a lovely small gallery with quite a few famous pictures. The Soutine exhibition is especially good. You can really get a sense of the personalities of the sitters. I recommend a visit, combined with a free tour of Somerset House it makes a nice day out
I lived in London for ten years and never visited the Courtauld gallery. I'm visiting from Sydney and am planning to do an art appreciation course. The gallery has a fantastic collection of Impressionist and later twentieth century art. And best of all it's not packed like the National. A gem!
Historical, beautiful exhibition displayed in nice rooms.
Excellent collection of art and the special exhibit Soutine was very enjoyable. Staff were very friendly and helpful... very nice gift shop.
A worthwhile trip if you are a fan of the Impressionists and Post- Impressionist art era. A fantastic collection for a gallery that is on the smaller side. The size of the gallery actually made it more approachable than some of the bigger galleries around London. Smaller crowds were also a big plus. You didn't have to fight off hoards of people just to glimpse some of the more famous paintings, you could actually approach and study them!
"A Bar at the Folies-Bergere" by Edouard Manet was the first painting I studied as an art student. It is for many an iconic and relatable entry into the impressionists. I had always loved this painting and until a friend told me that it was a painting he had always wanted to see I hadn't really thought about where it was. When we realized that we had an amazing opportunity to view it together, Wow! What a privilege! I was stunned at Manet's technique. You could feel where he struggled with perspective, detail and the texture of his paint. 135 years later it still feels fresh and relevant. Having survived two world wars, the painting is still in surprisingly good shape. The jewel in the crown of the Courtauld Gallery. The painting dates from a time pre-internet and pre-selfies where the artist had to observe, relate to his subject, translate human emotion and then communicate it to humanity. A brilliant treatise into human behaviour.
Well it’s small, but there are some great paintings like my favorite Vincent Van Gogh’s self portrait, Monet’s landscapes, and also paintings of other famous Impressionists like Paul Gauguin, Manet, Cezanne, I really enjoyed my time there. If you are interested in Renaissance, they have a lot of collections too.
Love the gallery. Not very big which adds to the pleasure because one doesn't feel one has missed the meat of the collection. There is also the possibility to see works by a variety of artists under one roof.
Just very simply very good, very friendly and helpful staff.