It’s a short walk to Manchester Square and another magnificent collection with several exhibitions on offer.
It’s less than a mile and just a comfortable 15-minute walk via Brook Street from the treasure trove of The Berkeley Square Fair to Manchester Square in London. There you will find another haven of fine and decorative arts in the unique Wallace Collection.
As well as the permanent collection itself, this magnificent repository of more than 5,500 pieces stages a captivating exhibition series, offering two major shows currently, and another to follow soon after the LAPADA Fair.
The first is Flora Yukhnovich and François Boucher: The Language of the Rococo, focusing on new work by this British artist (b.1990), who is celebrated for her large-scale, semi-abstract oil paintings, as well as the talents of the celebrated 18th-century French painter François Boucher (1703-1770).
Two new paintings by Yukhnovich, made in response to two exceptional paintings by Boucher, occupy gilt frames at the top of the Collection’s grand staircase.
Describing Boucher’s work as ‘theatrical and tongue-in-cheek’ and ‘prime examples of the Rococo’, the Collection includes a selection in the Housekeeper’s Room. Removed from their frames and hung on white walls, like Contemporary works, they provide an excellent opportunity to see how the past can influence the present with its style and approach.
Also on currently is Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King, which explores the life of the great Sikh leader (1780–1839), from his conquest of the Punjab to become the undisputed Maharaja, establishing the influential Sikh Empire.
“Ranjit Singh’s leadership led to a golden age marked by thriving trade, flourishing arts, and a formidable army,” we are told. “Discover his story through nearly 100 stunning artworks, including jewellery and weaponry from the Sikh Empire drawn from major private and public collections.”
The exhibition also features historic objects from his court, courtiers, and family, including items owned by the Maharaja and the most famous of his 30 wives, Maharani Jind Kaur, as well as the remarkable collection of Sikh arms and armour.
To follow from November 27 will be Keeping Time: Clocks by Boulle, in which the Collection brings together for the first time clocks by André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732), the most famous cabinetmaker to have worked for the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV.
The exhibition has been devised to tell the story of Boulle through five exceptional timepieces, showing how he exploited scientific discoveries to create unique clock designs in glittering baroque style.
If you don’t have time to visit The Wallace Collection in person, you can still enjoy two of its exhibitions online: Rubens: Reuniting The Great Landscapes, and Frans Hals: The Male Portrait, both available via the Collection’s website at www.wallacecollection.org
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Flora Yukhnovich, A World of Pure Imagination, Oil on linen, 259 x 197cm, 2024 © Flora Yukhnovich Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro