A home to a fantastic collection of art, the Courtauld Gallery is located at the Somerset House in central London. I finally managed to visit it for the first time. It was fun to walk around spotting famous artworks and thinking to myself – wow, this one is here, and this one is here too! 

The permanent collection galleries take you on a tour of the history of art (mostly in Western tradition) from the Middle Ages to the art of the 20th century. It begins at the first floor with the Medieval and Early Renaissance Gallery. Among the highlights there are the ‘Courtauld Bag’, an intricately decorated brass bag made in Iraq dating to the early 1300s, and three predella panels, once a part of an altarpiece, painted around 1420s by Fra Angelico. 

On the second floor, the galleries are set in chronological order, starting with the works of the Renaissance and Baroque. Two rooms are dedicated to Rubens and his contemporaries. Moving along, the tour continues through the art of the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the exhibits are dominated by paintings, there are also decorative arts, furniture and an occasional sculpture. 

Most renowned for its Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection, the Courtauld is packed with art treasures. Works by Monet, Manet, Morisot, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Van Gogh and Gaugin are in the top floor galleries, which is, understandably, one of the busiest spaces in the building. 

My favourite discovery was the Bloomsbury Room, a small space tucked away from the busy Impressionism and Post-Impressionism galleries. It is decorated with works made and designed by the members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry and Duncan Grant. From paintings on the walls down to the carpet on the floor, this room has a distinct cosy and domestic feel, which makes it very different from the rest of the Neoclassical building. 

One of the recent acquisitions is the monumental curved panel at the top of the staircase by Cecily Brown titled Unmoored from Her Reflection (2021). The painting was installed in November 2021 when the Courtauld reopened to the public after a lengthy period of renovation. In my opinion, the staircase is among the most eye-catching architectural features of the building. 

New displays include panels explaining the history of the building. It used to host the Royal Academy of Arts and other institutions throughout the years. ‘Courtauld Insights’ also deserve a mention. Scattered throughout the galleries they offer little nuggets of information from the Courtauld’s recent research about the artworks, artists and society. 

The Courtauld is now among my London favourites. Comprehensive, yet not overloaded displays are easy to look at. Unlike some of the larger galleries and museums in the city, this one is totally doable in a day. It will not leave you tired and overwhelmed. I focused on the permanent collection here, but there is also a programme of temporary exhibitions. A virtual tour of the gallery is available on the website (link at the bottom), which is worth checking out.

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Link to Courtauld Gallery website here: https://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/