The collection includes around 530 paintings, 7,000 drawings and 15,000 prints, as well as significant holdings of mediaeval, Renaissance and modern sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, furniture and textiles. The gallery's unique and intimate atmosphere reflects its origins as a 'collection of collections', largely formed through a series of major gifts and bequests made by some of the leading collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries. These include Samuel Courtauld (1876-1947), Roger Fry (1866-1934), Thomas Gambier Parry (1816-1888), Viscount Lee of Fareham (1868-1947) and Count Antoine Seilern (1901-1978).To reflect the importance of these individual collections, the displays at the Courtauld Institute Gallery are currently arranged by collector. Offering a fresh look at well-known masterpieces from the collection, this installation presents fascinating insights into the tastes of individual collectors, as well as the aesthetic debates which informed the periods in which the core collections were formed. The next title in Scala's prestigious series on the greatest collections of the world, this lovely book selects the highlights from these diverse collections.
Outstanding paintings, drawings and works of decorative art are accompanied by short informative texts written by the curators of one of the most important art institutes in the world.