The Wallace Collection

The Wallace collection was bequeathed to the British people in 1897 by the widow of the late Sir Richard Wallace, who, following upon the third and fourth Marquises of Hertford, had acquired the priceless objects of art contained at Hertford House.

After careful consideration, it was decided that they should remain in the old home, a palatial one, and worthy of the collection which is almost the finest in Europe, and in England unique.

There are works by Murillo, Velasquez, Meissonier, Delaroche, Watteau, etc., while English painters are well represented, but not fully as in some galleries; there are, however, some magnificent pictures by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Copley Fielding, Clarkson, Stanfield, etc.

Then there are masterpieces by Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Ostade, Wouverman, Paul Potter, Hobbema, Cuyp, etc.

The value of some of these paintings may be realized by the fact that Lord Hertford gave £8000 for the famous Rainbow, by Rubens, in the collection, and which is to-day probably worth £35,000; while the two Van Dycks have been appraised at £40,000 or £50,000, and the Frans Hals, which the late Sir Richard Wallace doted upon, is said to be worth £15,000 at the least.

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London art in 1900 - National Picture Galleries - Art Exhibitions and Private Collections:
Dulwich Picture Gallery