Courtauld Institute of Art

Courtauld Institute of Art

is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art. The Courtauld is one of the premier centres for the teaching of art history in the world; it was the only History of Art department in the UK to be awarded a top 5* grade in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, and was ranked second nationally for History of Art in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise and ranked first nationally for History and History of Art in the Guardian's 2011 University Guide

It was founded in 1932 through the philanthropic efforts of the industrialist and art collector Samuel Courtauld, the diplomat and collector Lord Lee of Fareham, and the art historian Sir Robert Witt. Originally the Courtauld Institute was based in Home House, a Robert Adam-designed townhouse in Portman Square, London. Since 1989, it has been based in the North wing of Somerset House. The Courtauld celebrated its 75th anniversary during the 2007-8 academic year.
The art collection at the Institute was begun by its founder, Samuel Courtauld, who presented an extensive collection of mainly French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in 1932, which was enhanced by further gifts in the 1930s and a bequest in 1948. His collection included such masterworks as Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère and a version of his Déjeuner sur l'Herbe, Renoir's La Loge, landscapes by Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, a ballet scene by Edgar Degas and a group of eight major works by Cézanne. Other paintings include van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Peach Blossoms in the Crau,
Gauguin's Nevermore and Te Rerioa, as well as important works by Seurat, Henri "Douanier" Rousseau, Toulouse-Lautrec and Modigliani. In total, the Gallery contains some 530 paintings and over 26,000 drawings and prints.

Following the death of the eminent art critic Roger Fry in 1934, the Institute received his collection of 20th-century art. Further bequests were added after the Second World War, most notably the collection of Old Master paintings assembled by Lord Lee. This included Cranach's Adam and Eve and a sketch in oils by Peter Paul Rubens for what is arguably his masterpiece, the Deposition altarpiece in Antwerp Cathedral. Sir Robert Witt was also an outstanding benefactor to the Courtauld and bequeathed his important collection of Old Master and British drawings in 1952. In 1966 Mark Gambier-Parry bequeathed the diverse collection of art formed by his grandfather, Thomas Gambier Parry, which ranged from Early Italian Renaissance painting to majolica, medieval enamel and ivory carvings and other unusual art forms. Soon after (in 1967), the bequest of Dr. William Wycliffe Spooner (1882–1967) and his wife Mercie, added strength to the Gallery's collection of English watercolors by contributing works by J.R. Cozens and Francis Towne