The Courtauld Modernisation Project London building award, UK capital architecture renewal photos, Design news

The Courtauld Institute of Art London

post updated 8 September 2023 with new photos

Witherford Watson Mann’s Transformation Of The Courtauld Shortlisted For The 2023 Stirling Prize

Renewal Design: Witherford Watson Mann Architects

The Blavatnik Fine Rooms at The Courtauld Gallery:

photo © Hufton+Crow

6 September 2023

The Courtauld Gallery in London Transformation Award News

Wednesday 6 September 2023 – The transformation of The Courtauld Institute of Art in London is one of six projects which have been shortlisted for the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize, the UK’s highest accolade in architecture. The prize is awarded to the best architectural project of the last 12 months.

Designed by award-winning architects Witherford Watson Mann with exhibition design by Nissen Richards Studio, The Courtauld’s redevelopment has revitalised and opened up the magnificent building conceived by Sir William Chambers in the late 1770s to create an inspiring setting for the 21st century.

The Blavatnik Fine Rooms at The Courtauld Gallery:

photo © Hufton+Crow

The three-year redevelopment of the Courtauld Gallery has been the most significant modernisation project in its history, providing a transformed home for one of the UK’s greatest art collections.

Highlights include the spectacular, newly restored LVMH Great Room, London’s oldest purpose-built exhibition space which is now home to The Courtauld’s world-famous collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art by artists including Cézanne, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, and others.

The Medieval and Early Renaissance Gallery at The Courtauld Gallery:

photo © Hufton+Crow

The Blavatnik Fine Rooms, spanning the entire second floor, provide a beautiful setting for works from the Renaissance to the 18th century. New rooms devoted to 20th century art and the Bloomsbury Group showcase lesser-known aspects of the collection, and a new Project Space spotlights temporary projects to connect the public with the institution’s work as a leading centre for the study of art history. The new Leon Kossoff Learning Centre offers a welcoming base for schools, young people and community groups.

Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), The Myth of Prometheus, 1950, at The Courtauld Gallery:

photo © Hufton+Crow

The new Denise Coates Exhibition Galleries on the 3rd Floor have showcased a major series of temporary exhibitions since the Gallery reopened, including the highly successful Van Gogh. Self-Portraits and Edvard Munch. Masterpieces from Bergen. This new space has enabled the Gallery to extend and diversify its programme, which now ranges from focused historic exhibitions such as Fuseli and the Modern Woman to contemporary projects such as the recent Peter Doig and the forthcoming exhibition of works by Claudette Johnson. The inspiring encounter of the old and the new throughout the building is exemplified by the installation of a large painting by Cecily Brown at the top of William Chambers’s historic staircase.

The Blavatnik Fine Rooms at The Courtauld Gallery:

photo © David Levene

These many changes have supported The Courtauld’s aim to improve access to the building and collection, and to extend its reach and diversify its audiences. Ticket sales for the first year after reopening rose to 320,000, an increase of 74% on the 12 months prior to closure.

The reopening marked the completion of the first phase of Courtauld Connects, a project to open up the whole of the Courtauld Institute of Art both spatially and culturally. In this first phase, accessibility to the Gallery has been dramatically improved, and new interpretation and display of the artworks has made them more engaging than ever before.

The Blavatnik Fine Rooms:

photo © Hufton+Crow

Stephen Witherford, Director of Witherford Watson Mann Architects, said: “Courtauld Connects’, for The Courtauld Institute of Art has been shortlisted for the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize. Our carefully planned refurbishment is a complex weaving of old and new. Many may struggle to identify specifically what has changed: and yet there was barely a room, door, floor or cable that was not altered. The project preserves the institution’s rich past whilst securing its future and the physical alterations are now beginning to support a change of culture: visitor diversity has increased, along with visitor numbers; school groups are making full use of the first onsite learning centre; and student initiatives and wider partnerships are reshaping the programme, as the forthcoming Claudette Johnson: Presence show will make clear. Altering buildings doesn’t change institutions on its own, but it can support their democratisation. In the words of Professor Deborah Swallow, who oversaw the project, ‘This is much more than a building project, this is about transforming an institution.’ We are delighted that the RIBA judges have recognised this.”

The Lord Browne of Madingley, Chairman of The Courtauld, said: “The respectful redevelopment by Witherford Watson Mann gives the Collection a great new home. The Gallery is designed to inspire and engage visitors. It is light, practical and beautiful, and affords us a glimpse into the wonder of humankind’s interaction with the world through the prism of art. It is a fitting testament to the centrality of art to the human condition.

photo © Benedict Johnson Photography

Professor Mark Hallett, Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld, said: “Witherford Watson Mann have succeeded in realising the potential of this wonderful William Chambers’ building. They have made it fully accessible by means of strategic architectural interventions and delicate changes, celebrating the best of its unique features, 18th century proportions and design.”

Professor Deborah Swallow, former Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld, said:
“Witherford Watson Mann approached our extraordinary Grade 1 listed building with sensitivity and intelligence, giving it and The Courtauld a whole new future. It now works beautifully for our several inter-related purposes – as the home to a great collection which everyone can enjoy, and as set of spaces which inspire study, learning and professional education.”

Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, Head of The Courtauld Gallery, said: “One of the central goals of this project was to bring The Courtauld’s great art collection into harmony with William Chambers’s exceptional building, thereby creating an inspiring experience for our visitors. We are delighted that the RIBA judges have recognised the judgement, skill and care with which Witherford Watson Mann responded to this brief.”

The Courtauld Institute of Art London Medieval Gallery:

photo © Hufton+Crow

The transformation of The Courtauld was supported by £11 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and a generous donation of £10 million from philanthropists Sir Leonard and Lady Blavatnik, and the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Additional major support was provided by AKO Foundation, the Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation, The John Browne Charitable Trust, Denise Coates CBE, Crankstart, The Garcia Family Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Dr Martin and Susanne Halusa, The Linbury Trust, LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton and Oak Foundation. The Courtauld is most grateful to these visionary supporters, alongside others who are making this project and its related activities possible.

The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London:

photo © Alastair Fyfe

The collection cared for by the Courtauld Gallery belongs to the Samuel Courtauld Trust.

The Courtauld Gallery
Somerset House, Strand
London WC2R 0RN
Opening hours: 10.00 – 18.00 (last entry 17.15)
Weekday tickets from £10; Weekend tickets from £12.
Friends and Under-18s go free. Other concessions available.

Previously on e-architect:

18 November 2021

The Courtauld Gallery Opening

Refurbishment Design: Witherford Watson Mann Architects, UK

The Courtauld Gallery in London opens tomorrow, Friday 19 November 2021, following the most significant development in its history, providing a transformed home for one of the UK’s greatest art collections.

The Courtauld Gallery in London Opening

Visitors to the Gallery at Somerset House will be able to see masterpieces from The Courtauld’s world-famous collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces, including Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882), Van Gogh’s Self- Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889), and the most significant collection of works by Cézanne in the UK in the spectacular new setting of the magnificent triple-height LVMH Great Room.

Illustration of Courtauld Connects redevelopment:

illustration courtesy Witherford Watson Mann Architects

Designed by Stirling Prize-winning architects Witherford Watson Mann, the redevelopment revitalises and opens up the building conceived by Sir William Chambers in the 1770s to create an inspiring setting for the 21st Century. The project has been supported by £11 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, £10 million from philanthropists Sir Leonard and Lady Blavatnik, and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and generous donations from foundations, individuals and other supporters.

Reopening Friday 19 November 2021
Monday – Sunday, 10am – 6pm (last entry 5.15pm)
Special introductory offer: £9 weekday / £11 weekends. Concessions available.
Free to students, under 18s, those in receipt of job seekers allowance, teachers, FE and HE lecturers
Full details: www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery

The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Van Gogh Self-Portraits
3 February – 8 May 2022
£16 weekday / £18 weekend. Concessions available.
Full details: www.courtauld.ac.uk/vg-self-portraits

Previously on e-architect:

30 September 2021

The Courtauld Institute of Art To Reopen To The Public

Renewal Design: Witherford Watson Mann Architects

On 19 November 2021 Following The Most Significant Modernisation Project In Its History

Tickets on sale now at www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery

The Courtauld Gallery in London will open to the public on Friday 19 November 2021 following the most significant modernisation project in its history, providing a transformed home for one of the UK’s greatest art collections.

Visitors to the gallery in Somerset House, which has been closed since 2018, will be able to enjoy masterpieces from The Courtauld’s much-loved collection presented and interpreted across elegantly restored galleries, alongside a new contemporary commission, special displays, enhanced visitor facilities, and dynamic new spaces.

Paintings from The Courtauld Institute of Art’s world-famous collection of Impressionist art by Monet, Degas, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Manet and others will be reunited in the spectacular LVMH Great Room, London’s oldest purpose-built exhibition space. The Blavatnik Fine Rooms, spanning the entire second floor, will provide a beautiful setting for works from the Renaissance to the 18^th century. New rooms devoted to 20^th century art and the Bloomsbury Group will showcase lesser-known aspects of the collection, and a new Project Space will spotlight temporary projects to connect the public with the institution’s work as a leading centre for the study of art history.

Tickets for The Courtauld Gallery are on sale now with a special introductory price of £9 (£11 weekends / concessions available) until the end of January 2022. Friends membership is available from just £5.50 a month, or £66 annually, and active members of the Friends and Patrons programmes can enjoy unlimited access to The Courtauld Gallery throughout the year.

The new Denise Coates Exhibition Galleries will be inaugurated with the exhibition: Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, which will run until January 2022 and feature work by European and American masters including Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Gerhard Richter, Louis Soutter and Cy Twombly. Also included in the ticket price will be Pen to Brush: British Drawings and Watercolours in the Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery and Kurdistan in the 1940s in the new Project Space, showcasing the work of 20th century British photographer Anthony Kersting.

Tickets are also on sale for the Morgan Stanley Exhibition Van Gogh Self-Portraits (3 February – 8 May 2022), the first exhibition devoted to Van Gogh’s self-portraits across his entire career. The exhibition takes as its springboard Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, one of the most iconic works in The Courtauld Institute of Art’s collection, and will bring together an outstanding selection of over 15 self-portraits from collections around the world. The exhibition is the first in the new Morgan Stanley Series of high-profile temporary exhibitions at The Courtauld. Further exhibitions will be announced later in 2021. Van Gogh Self-Portraits is supported by Kenneth C. Griffin, with additional support from The Huo Family Foundation.

The Courtauld Institute of Art London LVMH Great Room:

photo © Hufton+Crow

Professor Deborah Swallow, Marit Rausing Director of The Courtauld Institute of Art, said: “We cannot wait to be able to welcome visitors back into The Courtauld Gallery after being closed for over three years. The transformation has been quite incredible, and the masterpieces in our collection now shine brighter than ever before. With improved visitor facilities, greater accessibility and a new Leon Kossoff Learning Centre we’re also looking forward to welcoming people who might not have visited The Courtauld Institute of Art before – as well as being once again able to use the Gallery to teach our wonderful art history, curation and conservation students.”

Stuart McLeod , Director London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:“We are thrilled that one of the UK’s greatest art collections will have a transformed new home in just two months’ time. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, a significant grant has enabled a series of transformative improvements in accessibility, as well as a new Learning Centre that will enable people of all ages to engage with the masterpieces on display. We look forward to The Courtauld Gallery reopening its doors very soon.”

When it reopens, The Courtauld Institute of Art’s digital offer will also be expanded, engaging new audiences and enhancing access to the collection through a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to improve the Gallery’s digital infrastructure. The Courtauld Institute of Art will also launch a guide on the Bloomberg Connects app, a free digital guide to cultural organisations around the world featuring expert commentary, video highlights and way-finding maps which will extend access to The Courtauld Gallery for all. Bloomberg Connects makes it easy to access and engage with arts and culture from mobile devices, anytime, anywhere. The Bloomberg Connects app is free via Apple Store or Google Play.

The transformation of The Courtauld Institute of Art, led by Stirling Prize-winning architects Witherford Watson Mann, has been supported by £11 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and a generous donation of £10 million from philanthropists Sir Leonard and Lady Blavatnik, and the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Additional major support has been provided by AKO Foundation, the Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation, The John Browne Charitable Trust, Denise Coates CBE, Crankstart, The Garcia Family Foundation, The Garfield Weston Foundation, Dr Martin and Susanne Halusa, The Linbury Trust, LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton and Oak Foundation. The Courtauld is most grateful to these visionary supporters, alongside others who are making this project and its related activities possible. The collection cared for by The Courtauld Gallery belongs to the Samuel Courtauld Trust.

The Courtauld Gallery

Reopening Friday 19 November 2021

Monday – Sunday, 10am – 6pm (last entry 5.15pm)

Special introductory offer: £9 weekday / £11 weekends. Concessions available.

Free to students, under 18s, those in receipt of job seekers allowance, teachers, FE and HE lecturers

Full details: www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery

Tickets are initially available online only. Walk up tickets will also be available once The Courtauld Gallery reopens on 19 November.

Van Gogh Self Portraits
3 February – 8 May 2022

£16 weekday / £18 weekend. Concessions available.
Full details: www.courtauld.ac.uk/vg-self-portraits

Special introductory offer of £9 weekday / £11 weekends is for access to the Gallery, its permanent collection and all temporary exhibitions up to 2 February 2022. Additional charges apply to our Van Gogh Self Portraits exhibition from 3 February 2022.

THE COURTAULD
Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN

Previously on e-architect:

10 June 2021

The Courtauld Modernisation Project

The Courtauld Institute of Art Unveils Opening Programme

As Major Modernisation Project Reaches Completion Ahead Of November 2021 Opening

Masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the 20^th Century presented in magnificently restored setting following three-year transformation project

The elegantly restored Blavatnik Fine Rooms will showcase some of the greatest and most-loved works from The Courtauld Institute of Art’s collection

World-famous Impressionist collection reunited in the LVMH Great Room – London’s oldest exhibition space

The Blavatnik Fine Rooms:

photograph © Hufton+Crow

Major new contemporary commission by Cecily Brown

Oskar Kokoschka’s epic modern painting, The Myth of Prometheus, the largest work in The Courtauld’s collection, back on display in the Katja and Nicolai Tangen 20th Century Gallery

Opening exhibitions to feature remarkable gift of 24 modern drawings; rarely-seen images of Kurdistan in the 1940s; and important British drawings and watercolours

The Courtauld Gallery in London will open its doors in November 2021 following the most significant modernisation project in its history, providing a transformed home for one of the UK’s greatest art collections.

The Courtauld Institute of Art’s much-loved collection, which belongs to the Samuel Courtauld Trust and ranges from the Middle Ages to the 20^th Century – will be completely redisplayed and reinterpreted. These enhanced spaces will allow The Courtauld Institute of Art to give visitors greater insight into its collections, teaching and research and enable inspiring encounters with its great works of art. In addition, two brand new galleries will provide a beautiful new home for The Courtauld’s acclaimed programme of temporary exhibitions.

Masterpieces from The Courtauld Institute of Art’s world-famous collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art by Cézanne, Manet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Renoir, and Monet will be reunited in the spectacularly restored LVMH Great Room – London’s oldest purpose-built exhibition space and the largest space in Somerset House.

The new displays will reveal the quality and range of the collection like never before. The Blavatnik Fine Rooms, spanning the Piano Nobile across the whole of the second floor, will provide the stunning setting for a series of new displays of works from the Renaissance to the 18^th Century. A new space will be dedicated to The Courtauld Institute of Art’s important collection of Medieval and Early Renaissance paintings and decorative arts.

Rooms devoted to 20^th Century art and the Bloomsbury Group will showcase lesser-known areas of the collection through rotating displays. A new Project Space on the second floor will provide a flexible platform for spotlighting smaller temporary projects that give visitors special insights into The Courtauld Institute of Art’s collection, conservation and research. Displays in this space will play an important role in better connecting the public with the institution’s work as an internationally-renowned centre for the study of art history and conservation.

The largest work in The Courtauld’s collection – Austrian Expressionist Oskar Kokoschka’s epic triptych The Myth of Prometheus (1950) – will be back on public display for the first time in over a decade in the Katja and Nicolai Tangen 20th Century Gallery.

A new large-scale painting by acclaimed artist Cecily Brown, specially commissioned for the curved wall of The Courtauld Institute of Art’s historic 18^th Century staircase, will be unveiled when the Gallery reopens.

British Cultural Highlight of 2021

The Lord Browne of Madingley, Chairman of The Courtauld, said: “The opening of The Courtauld Gallery will be one of the biggest cultural highlights of 2021 and a significant first step in the transformation of The Courtauld. We are thrilled to be welcoming the public back to enjoy one of the country’s greatest art collections in a beautifully restored setting. This transformation would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors, to whom we are immensely grateful. The redevelopment allows us to showcase the range and richness of the collection as never before, and to enable a greater number of people to enjoy close personal encounters with some of the finest works of art from the Middle Ages to the 20^th Century. This will be complemented by an exciting opening programme of exhibitions, which focus on new or little-known areas of The Courtauld’s collection.”

Three Temporary Exhibitions

As well as the redisplayed permanent collection, The Courtauld Gallery will open with three temporary exhibitions included in the ticket price:

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift (Nov 21 – Jan 22) will showcase an outstanding group of modern drawings by European and American masters including Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Gerhard Richter, Louis Soutter and Cy Twombly, assembled by the late collector Howard Karshan and generously given to The Courtauld Institute of Art by his wife, the artist Linda Karshan.

Pen to Brush: British Drawings and Watercolours (Nov 21 – Jan 22) will show a wide range of works from The Courtauld Institute of Art’s remarkable collection of British drawings – from one of the earliest and smallest works in the collection, a pen and ink drawing by Isaac Oliver measuring 47 x 59 mm, to watercolours by J.M.W. Turner and John Constable, to modern works, including a shelter drawing by Henry Moore and the radical, near abstract Vorticist Composition with Figures by Helen Saunders.

Kurdistan in the 1940s (Nov 21 – May 22) will unearth some of the treasures of the Conway photographic Library including sites damaged or destroyed in recent conflict through the works of 20th Century British photographer Anthony Kersting, one of the most prolific and widely travelled architectural photographers of his generation.

Designed by Stirling Prize-winning architects Witherford Watson Mann, the redevelopment revitalises and opens up the building in Somerset House conceived by Sir William Chambers in the 1770s, restoring it to its former grandeur and creating state-of-the-art facilities. The project has been supported by £11 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and generous donations from foundations, individuals and other supporters.

The Courtauld Modernisation Project Reopening Highlights

COURTAULD REOPENING HIGHLIGHTS – FURTHER DETAILS:

Restored and expanded galleries showcasing treasures from the Medieval period and Early Renaissance to the 20^thCentury, including the restored Blavatnik Fine Rooms

Thanks to the generous donation of £10 million from philanthropists Sir Leonard and Lady Blavatnik, and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the elegantly restored Blavatnik Fine Rooms, a suite of six galleries spanning the entire second floor of the building, will showcase some of the greatest and most-loved works from The Courtauld’s collection from the Renaissance through to the 18^th Century.

The redevelopment will enable The Courtauld to give a more generous account of this part of its collection across rooms dedicated to the Italian Renaissance, Northern Renaissance, 17^th and 18^th Century Europe. A major highlight will be Botticelli’s large-scale The Trinity With Saints – the only altarpiece by the artist in the UK – unveiled after a three-year conservation project. A room dedicated to The Courtauld’s celebrated collection of works by Peter Paul Rubens will also be a significant feature of the displays. New lighting and other improvements throughout these historic spaces will transform the experience of the collection.

LVMH Great Room:

photo © Hufton+Crow

Sir Leonard Blavatnik said: “My wife and I are delighted to support the historic renovation of The Courtauld, including the Blavatnik Fine Rooms. We congratulate all those associated with the project, a unique addition to London and the world of the fine arts.”

A new gallery has been created on the first floor to present The Courtauld’s important collection of paintings and decorative arts from the Medieval and Early Renaissance periods, including fine examples of Islamic metalwork, alongside works from Italy and Northern Europe

For the first time, The Courtauld’s significant collection of works by the Bloomsbury Group will be given a dedicated space in the Gallery, showcasing the group’s radical designs for furniture, ceramics and textiles alongside paintings and drawings by important Bloomsbury artists, including Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

A spectacular new home for the UK’s greatest collection of Impressionist art

Masterpieces from The Courtauld’s world-renowned collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882), Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889), and the most significant collection of works by Cézanne in the UK, will be shown together when The Courtauld Gallery reopens in the spectacularly restored LVMH Great Room – London’s oldest purpose-built exhibition space.

Previously subdivided, the newly renamed LVMH Great Room has been reinstated to its original breath-taking proportions and volume. It will provide an unforgettable new home for The Courtauld’s Impressionist and Post-Impressionist treasures, which will be rehung and newly interpreted. It will include masterpieces by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Seurat, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Modigliani.

Among the works on display will be Renoir’s Spring, Chatou (1873), a rarely seen Impressionist masterpiece once belonging to Samuel Courtauld and now on loan to the Gallery. Also on display will be one of the most important artist manuscripts ever to enter a UK public collection, Gauguin’s Avant et après (Before and After), a 213-page illustrated memoir featuring numerous drawings and prints revealing important insights into Gauguin’s life and work. It was acquired for The Courtauld through the UK Government’s Acceptance in Lieu Scheme in 2020 and goes on public display for the first time.

The Courtauld would like to acknowledge the generosity of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton who have enabled the transformation of the historic LVMH Great Room.

Jean-Paul Claverie, Advisor to the Chairman, LMVH/Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton and Head of LVMH Philanthropy, said : “LVMH is delighted and proud to have supported the renovation of the magnificent Great Room in London, which has played such an important historical role in the arts. The LVMH Great Room has been reunited with its glorious past, providing an inspiring and uplifting space where visitors can enjoy The Courtauld’s unparalleled collection of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces. We hope that it will delight visitors from around the world.”

The largest work in The Courtauld’s collection on show for the first time in over a decade

An epic modern painting by the great Austrian Expressionist Oskar Kokoschka consisting of three canvases measuring over eight metres long, and considered to be one of the artist’s most important works, will be displayed at The Courtauld for the first time in over a decade in the Katja and Nicolai Tangen 20^th Century Gallery.

The Myth of Prometheus (1950) was commissioned in 1950 by Count Antoine Seilern, one of The Courtauld’s most important benefactors, for the ceiling of his London home. Seilern bequeathed the triptych to The Courtauld, together with his remarkable collection of Old Master paintings and drawings. Kokoschka painted the work in London in 1950, at a time when the world was poised between the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War, retelling stories from classical myth and the Bible to evoke dramatic scenes of apocalypse and the hope of regeneration during troubled times.

The painting will be exhibited alongside a selection of photographs documenting Kokoschka working on The Myth of Prometheus in Seilern’s home, taken by the acclaimed 20^th Century photographer Lee Miller.

The Courtauld would like to thank the AKO Foundation, whose generous donation has supported the creation of the Katja and Nicolai Tangen 20^th Century Gallery.

Remarkable gift of 24 modern drawings including works by Kandinsky, Klee, Baselitz and Richter exhibited together for the first time

An outstanding group of modern drawings by European and American masters including Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Gerhard Richter, Louis Soutter and Cy Twombly, assembled by the late collector Howard Karshan and generously gifted to The Courtauld by his wife Linda, will go on public display together for the first time when The Courtauld Gallery reopens.

The group of 24 works on paper will be unveiled in the new exhibition galleries on the top floor, formed by the removal of former attic apartments to enable The Courtauld to develop its celebrated programme of international loan exhibitions. One of the most significant gifts of art to The Courtauld in a generation, the Karshan gift will transform the collection by extending its major historical holdings fully into the twentieth century. Aside from Cézanne, none of the artists included in the gift has previously been represented in the collection.

The location of the new Cecily Brown commission, at the top of the third-floor staircase:

photo © Hufton+Crow

Major new commission by Cecily Brown for The Courtauld’s historic staircase

A new large-scale painting by the renowned contemporary artist Cecily Brown will be unveiled as part of the reopening displays. The work has been specially commissioned for the curved wall at the top of The Courtauld’s historical staircase and will reflect Cecily Brown’s deep interest in the paintings in the Gallery’s collection. The commission revisits the early history of the building. In the eighteenth century, a painting by Giovanni Battista Cipriani occupied this same location when this part of Somerset House was home to the Royal Academy of Arts.

The commission has been supported by The Garcia Family Foundation.

British drawings celebrated in dedicated Drawings Gallery

Pen to Brush, the opening display in the dedicated Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery, will feature highlights from The Courtauld’s remarkable collection of British drawings and watercolours. They range from one of the earliest and smallest works in the collection, a pen and ink drawing by Isaac Oliver measuring just 47 x 59 mm (around 1565-1617), to Henry Moore’s powerful wartime Shelter Drawing (1942). Works from the ‘golden age’ of British watercolour include examples by J.M.W. Turner, John Constable and Edward Dayes’ panoramic view of Somerset House from the Thames. A highlight will be a little-known abstract drawing, Vorticist Composition with Figures, Black and White (1915), by Helen Saunders, one of only two female members of the early 20^th-century avant-garde Vorticist group.

Rarely seen images of Kurdistan in the 1940s by Britain’s leading architectural photographer Anthony Kersting

20^th Century British photographer Anthony Kersting, the most prolific and widely travelled architectural photographer of his generation, will be the subject of the inaugural display in the new Project Space when The Courtauld Gallery reopens. Born in South London in 1916, Kersting documented his extensive travels across the Middle East throughout the 1940s and 50s. His archive of over 42,000 photographic prints and negatives were given to the Conway Library at The Courtauld upon his death in 2008.

20 compelling photographs from the collection documenting the life of the Yazidi community in Kurdistan, taken by Kersting on a trip in 1944, will go on display when The Courtauld Gallery reopens. The exhibition also includes portraits and city photography of Erbil, often considered the oldest continually inhabited place on earth, and the Mosque at Nebi Yunus, the burial place of Jonah destroyed by Isis in 2014. The display will be the first to be presented in the Gallery’s new Project Space, a new room to spotlight smaller temporary projects that give visitors insight into The Courtauld’s broader teaching, conservation and research expertise.

The 1.1million photographs in the Conway Library – most of which have never been seen by the public – are currently undergoing a major volunteer-led digitisation project – supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund – which will put these images, including Kersting’s, into the public domain.

Increasing the accessibility of the collection

The project has worked closely with the historic building to introduce improvements such as step-free access to the entrance, changes in display cabinet height, and standardising floor levels between rooms – making The Courtauld Gallery more accessible than ever before. A highlight will be the spacious, newly created visitor welcome areas, which provide greatly improved facilities and include The John Browne Entrance Hall, which has been generously supported by the John Browne Charitable Trust.

In addition, the collection’s interpretation has been completely revisited, drawing on The Courtauld’s expertise in art history education and research, as well as exploring the history of the fascinating rooms in which the collection is based. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Gallery’s digital programme will also be expanded, engaging new audiences and enhancing access to our collections.

Professor Deborah Swallow, Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld, said: “The Courtauld was founded in 1932 on the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to engage with art. This major redevelopment has provided a unique opportunity to look at the collection afresh, and it provides new narratives and new ways of enjoying our works.

Fresh design and interpretation throughout the gallery will open up The Courtauld as never before, enabling more people than ever to discover and enjoy our outstanding collection – furthering The Courtauld’s mission to advance how we see and understand the visual arts. Object Study Rooms and the Project Space will also provide a unique environment for The Courtauld’s teaching and research work. We look forward to welcoming people back to The Courtauld Gallery from November 2021.”

The Courtauld will launch a guide on the Bloomberg Connects app, a free digital guide to cultural organisations around the world. Bloomberg Connects makes it easy to access and engage with arts and culture from mobile devices, anytime, anywhere. Features include expert commentary, video highlights, pinch-and-zoom capability and exhibition and way-finding maps which will extend access to The Courtauld Gallery for all upon reopening. The Bloomberg Connects is free via Apple Store or Google Play.

Additional major support has been provided by the Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation, Crankstart, The Garcia Family Foundation, The Garfield Weston Foundation, Dr Martin and Susanne Halusa, The Linbury Trust and Oak Foundation. The Courtauld is most grateful to these visionary supporters, alongside others who are making this project and its related activities possible. The Courtauld would also like to thank McQueens Flowers for their support of Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Courtauld.

THE COURTAULD
Address: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN
Website: www.courtauld.ac.uk

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The Courtauld Institute of Art in London

The Courtauld

The Courtauld works to advance how we see and understand the visual arts, as an internationally-renowned centre for the teaching, research of art history and a major public gallery. Founded by collectors and philanthropists in 1932, the organisation has been at the forefront of the study of art ever since, through advanced research and conservation practice, innovative teaching and research, the renowned collection and inspiring exhibitions of its gallery, and engaging and accessible activities, education and events.

The Courtauld cares for one of the greatest art collections in the UK, sharing these works with the public at The Courtauld Gallery in central London. The Gallery is most famous for its iconic Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces, such as Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. It also showcases these alongside an internationally renowned collection of works from the Renaissance through to the present day.

Academically, The Courtauld faculty is the largest community of art historians and conservators in the UK, teaching and carrying out research on subjects from creativity in late Antiquity to contemporary digital artforms – with an increasingly global focus. An independent college of the University of London, The Courtauld offers a range of degree programmes from BA to PhD in the History of Art, curating and the conservation of easel and wall paintings. Its alumni are leaders and innovators in the arts, culture and business worlds, helping to shape the global agenda for the arts and creative industries.

Founded on the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to engage with art, The Courtauld works to increase understanding of the role played by art throughout history, in all societies and across all geographies – as well as being a champion for the importance of art in the present day. This could be through exhibitions offering a chance to look closely at world-famous works; events bringing art history research to new audiences; accessible and expert short courses; innovative school, family and community programmes; or taking a formal qualification. Our ambition is to transform access to art history education, by extending the horizons of what this is, and ensuring as many people as possible can benefit.

The Courtauld’s home in historic Somerset House – London’s working arts centre – is currently closed for a major programme of renovation. Our students and academic staff are based near King’s Cross.

The Courtauld is a registered charity and relies on generous philanthropic support to achieve its mission of advancing the understanding of the visual arts of the past and present across the world, through advanced research, innovative teaching, inspiring exhibitions, programmes and collections. The collection cared for by the Courtauld Gallery is owned by the Samuel Courtauld Trust, which has been a partner in the Courtauld Connects project.

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Location: National Gallery, London, England, UK