The Wallace Collection Ticket Portal

Join renowned lettering artist and illustrator Ruth Rowland and learn how to design and gild your own glowing illustration, inspired by the motifs seen in our Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King exhibition. You’ll investigate sumptuous paintings and metalwork and be guided in creating your own intricate artwork using imitation gold leaf.

Suitable for beginners with an eye for detail as well as those who would like to develop their flat gilding technique further, you’ll spend an enjoyable weekend learning a new decorative technique to use in your future illustration projects.

Read the full masterclass description here.

Joining Information and Format: This masterclass will take place in the Learning Studio, Lower Ground Floor at the museum. It includes access to the Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King exhibition during the event.

We recommend participants bring a packed lunch. When walking through the museum, food and drink must be packed away in a bag and must only be consumed when in the Learning Studio. 

Equipment and Materials: Please wear clothes suitable for a messy workshop. All materials and equipment are provided.

Discover the fascinating layers of meaning associated with Ranjit Singh’s funerary monument. Beginning with a brief introduction to Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the city of Lahore, Dr Khan - specialist in the history of art and architecture of the Punjab – will reveal the significance of the samādhī (funerary monument). Looking at its location, plan, and different phases of construction, Dr Khan will reveal and discuss ornamental features characteristic of 19th-century Sikh architecture in Punjab.

About the speaker: Dr Nadhra Shahbaz Khan is Associate Professor of art and architectural history at LUMS, Lahore, Pakistan. A specialist in the history of art and architecture of Punjab from the 16th to the early 20th century, her research covers the visual and material culture of this region during the Mughal, Sikh, and colonial periods. Her publications in international peer reviewed journals, conference papers and other research activities, especially her book titled Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samādhi in Lahore: A Summation of Sikh Architectural and Decorative Practices and a website featuring Sikh artefacts in the Lahore Fort’s Sikh Gallery, have successfully brought Sikh art and architecture to the forefront of Pakistan’s heritage discussions and conservation activities. This website has received the Times Higher Education Award Asia 2022 for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts. Her association with the Aga Khan Cultural Service–Pakistan for their Lahore Fort project as Consultant Historian has continued since 2016, and as Curator of the Lahore Fort’s Shah Burj Museum since 2023.

Watch Online: This talk will be broadcast live on Zoom. Book a free ticket online to receive a Zoom link. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks only.  

This event has now sold out at the museum. 

Our exhibition Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King presents a variety of exquisite miniature paintings from the Sikh Empire. Join us to discover the methods, materials and techniques surrounding the Pahari miniature painting tradition, over a creative weekend in our studio.

Delving into natural pigments, handmade papers and age-old brush techniques that give Pahari miniature paintings their distinctive appearance, you’ll develop knowledge and skills in this painting tradition as well as in finishing techniques, such as shell gold gilding. Over the course of the weekend you’ll create a colourful, gilded miniature painting to take home.

Read the full course description here.  

Joining Information and Format: This masterclass will take place in the Learning Studio, Lower Ground Floor at the museum. It includes access to the Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King exhibition during the event. 

Equipment and Materials: Please wear clothes suitable for a messy workshop. All materials and equipment are provided.  

Discover one of the most influential dynasties in Europe and their profound impact on the world of art. Focusing on a small selection of artworks now in the Wallace Collection as well as those in other collections, we’ll learn how the Habsburgs emerged as dukes of Austria and kings of Germany, playing vital roles in both politics and the arts from the 13th century on. Our discussions will include key members of the family, from Philip II of Spain to the female governors of the Netherlands who in turn enriched Habsburg collections and expanded cities such as Vienna, Prague, and Madrid. We’ll also examine the 18th-century patronage of Empress Maria Theresia, and consider the dynasty’s gradual decline during the 19th century under Franz Josef.

Read the full course description here. 

Joining Information and Format: This course will be taught through Zoom Webinar. Each course session duration is 120 minutes, including a five-minute break and time for Q&A with the tutor.

Tickets are for all dates. Ticket holders will be emailed the Zoom link, Webinar ID and Passcode 24 hours in advance of the first course session, which should be retained for accessing both sessions of the course.

Course Recording: This course will be recorded. Within 48 hours of each course session, ticket holders will be emailed a link to view the recording, which will be available for two weeks.

With live captions by Stagetext

During the 19th century, there was a rising demand in Western Europe for 'Orientalist' paintings and the Wallace Collection displays several fascinating examples. On the surface, these alluring depictions of Asia and North Africa appear realistic and potentially innocuous. However, Dr Matthew Morgan will reveal how these highly contrived images represented deeply entrenched racial and gender stereotypes and supported Eurocentric views of cultural superiority.

This event is part of the Art History Festival 2024 organised by the Association for Art History.

About the speaker: Dr Matthew Morgan is Director of Turner's House in Twickenham, and an Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London. He has worked in the heritage sector for 10 years, including at the Royal Collection and the National Gallery. Prior to that, he was a Director at Christie’s. He has taught diverse audiences across the UK as well as making a series of short films which can be seen on YouTube.

Take part at the Museum: No ticket required, drop in on the day. Join us in the Theatre for this special talk.

Watch Online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum. Book a free ticket online to receive a Zoom link. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks only.  

The Wallace Collection is home to an exceptional group of fascinating timepieces, which are brought together for the first time in our display, Keeping Time: Clocks by Boulle. Join curator, Alexander Collins, to learn how André-Charles Boulle, cabinetmaker to the Sun King, Louis XIV, fused bold baroque design and sumptuous ornament with groundbreaking mechanisms made by leading clockmakers.

About the speaker: Alexander Collins is Curator of Decorative Arts at the Wallace Collection. Previously, he was Assistant Curator for Portraits of Dogs: From Gainsborough to Hockney and Leverhulme Fellow for the prestigious Riesener Project, in which he researched the furniture of Jean-Henri Riesener and contributed to the Project’s monograph and digital resources. Alexander was also Decorative Arts Curatorial Intern at the Royal Collection.

Take part at the museum: No ticket required, drop in on the day. Join us in the Theatre for this special talk.

Watch Online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum. Book a free ticket online to receive a Zoom link. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks only.  

As our acclaimed display Flora Yukhnovich and François Boucher: The Language of the Rococo draws to a close, join director Dr Xavier Bray, Flora Yukhnovich and best-selling writer Katy Hessel as they reflect on the themes raised by this astonishing contemporary intervention at the Collection. Has the display challenged viewers to reconsider preconceptions about Rococo art and has it changed the way we look at the work of women artists, both today and in the past?

About the speakers: Dr Xavier Bray is Director of the Wallace Collection.

Katy Hessel is an art historian, curator, broadcaster, and author of The Story of Art without Men, a Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller, and Waterstones Book of the Year. She runs @thegreatwomenartists, an Instagram account that celebrates women artists. Hessel writes for The Guardian, and hosts 'The Great Women Artists Podcast'. In 2024, she launched 'Museums Without Men', an audio series highlighting works by women and gender non-conforming artists in museum collections worldwide, including The Met, Tate Britain, Hirshhorn, Fine Arts Museum San Francisco, Hepworth Wakefield, and more. Hessel writes and presents arts documentaries for the BBC, such as Artemisia Gentileschi (2020) and Art on the BBC: Monet (2022). She is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge; the Curatorial Trustee at Charleston Trust; and an alumni of Forbes 30 Under 30. Hessel has lectured at The Guggenheim, MFA Boston, Tate, The National Gallery, Courtauld, Cambridge University; presented films for BBC, Tate, Royal Academy, Barbican; and regularly hosts for BBC Radio 3 and 4. She has curated exhibitions at Victoria Miro Gallery, Kasmin Gallery, Stephen Friedman Gallery, and more. 

Born in Norwich, Flora Yukhnovich completed her MA at the City & Guilds of London Art School in 2017, during which time she began visiting the Wallace Collection. Her dynamic, multi-layered paintings, which fluctuate between the legible and the abstract, adopt the language of the Rococo established by artists such as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Jean-Antoine Watteau and François Boucher. Her suggestions of grand 18th-century compositions or cornucopias of fruits and flowers, are painted in a Rococo palette of porcelain colours. They are also envisaged through a kaleidoscope of art historical and contemporary cultural references. Since her first solo show in 2017 Yukhnovich has exhibited across Britain and Europe, including solo exhibitions with her gallery, Victoria Miro, The Venice Paintings (2020), Barcarole  (2020) and Thirst Trap (2022), and most recently as one of the first artists in the Ashmolean NOW series at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. In 2018 she completed The Great Women Artists Residency at Palazzo Monti, Brescia, Italy.

Take part at the museum: Join us at the museum for this talk, followed by refreshments and an opportunity to see the Flora Yukhnovich and François Boucher: The Language of the Rococo display until 20.45.

Watch online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum. Online ticketholders will be emailed a link to join 24 hours in advance. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks.

Learn about one of the greatest artistic accomplishments of the French Renaissance: the production of richly decorated painted enamels for use and display. Made in family workshops in Limoges in central France, these beautiful and intriguing works of art were highly prized at the courts of François I and Henri II. We’ll explore their development from their 15th-century origins to post-Renaissance decline, focusing on how they were made and for whom. You’ll be introduced to the wide range of items produced, from devotional objects to tableware, portraits and decorative furnishings. Looking at the 19th century, which witnessed their stylistic revival, we’ll also discover the high demand for Renaissance examples among collectors like Sir Richard Wallace.

Read the full course description here. 

Joining Information and Format: This course will be taught through Zoom Webinar. Each course session duration is 120 minutes, including a five-minute break and Q&A session with the tutor.  

Tickets are for all dates of this course. Ticketholders will be emailed the Zoom link, Webinar ID and Passcode 24 hours in advance of the first course session, which should be retained for accessing both sessions.   

Course Recording: This course will be recorded. Within 48 hours of each course session, ticket holders will be emailed a link to view the recording, which will be available for two weeks.

Our exhibition Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King includes many superb objects from the Sikh Empire that provide fascinating insights into the life and legacy of both Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his court.

Drawing on European visitors’ descriptions, Susan Stronge will reveal further evidence of the court’s splendour and bring to light details of day-to-day life – provided by the Maharaja’s chronicler – to reveal how the court’s magnificence was achieved, as well as considering the networks of artistic patronage in early 19th-century Punjab.

About the speaker: Susan Stronge is a Senior Curator in the Asia Department of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. She specialises in the arts of the Sikh and Muslim courts of the Indian subcontinent, and curated the award-winning 1999 exhibition The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms. Her books include Painting for the Mughal Emperor (2002), Tipu’s Tigers (2009) and Bejewelled Treasures: The Al Thani Collection (2015). Her exhibition The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence opens at the V&A on 9 November 2024 until 5 May 2025.

Take part at the museum: Join us at the museum for this special talk, followed by refreshments and entry to the exhibition Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King until 20.45.

Watch online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum. Online ticketholders will be emailed a link to join 24 hours in advance. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks.

Many of the Wallace Collection’s outstanding and internationally renowned rococo objects owe their existence to the patronage of Madame de Pompadour. Over the course of three sessions, we’ll learn about Pompadour’s extraordinary life – how she rose from ordinary beginnings to become King Louis XV’s mistress and subsequently one of the most powerful women in 18th-century France.

Looking closely at key objects from our collection, we’ll discover how the outstanding paintings and Sèvres porcelain, exquisite furniture and oriental lacquer that Pompadour amassed not only revealed her taste, but could also enhance her reputation and status. In addition to her patronage, we’ll also discuss the amateur prints that she produced, which reveal her own creativity.

Read the full course description here.  

Joining Information and Format: This course will be taught through Zoom Webinar. Each course session duration is 120 minutes, including a five-minute break and Q&A session with the tutor.  

Tickets are for all dates of this course. Ticketholders will be emailed the Zoom link, Webinar ID and Passcode 24 hours in advance of the first course session, which should be retained for accessing all sessions.   

Course Recording: This course will be recorded. Within 48 hours of each course session, ticket holders will be emailed a link to view the recording, which will be available for two weeks.  

The birth of Jesus is one of the most well-known episodes of the Christian story, made familiar through countless Christmas cards. But where does the story come from and how much of what we see and understand about the 'Boy born to be King' comes from the Bible? Join Dr Richard Stemp as he explores images of the Christ Child in Wallace Collection paintings, sculptures, works on vellum and in wax, to discover diverse origins of some apparently self-evident 'truths'.

About the speaker: Dr Richard Stemp is a graduate of Clare College, University of Cambridge, where he also completed his PhD on ‘Sculpture in Ferrara in the 15th Century’. After a year at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, he has since shared his time between art and acting. Richard was a lecturer at the National Gallery for 24 years, and has worked regularly for London’s leading galleries including Tate, Buckingham Palace and the V&A. His books include The Secret Language of the Renaissance and Churches and Cathedrals, 2010 and he has written and presented two series for Channel Four: Art in the National Gallery and Tate Modern.

Take part at the museum: No ticket required, drop in on the day. Join us in the Theatre for this special talk.

Watch online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum. Book a free ticket online to receive a Zoom link. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks only.   

The exceptional artworks in the Wallace Collection were brought together across the 18th and 19th centuries by an extraordinary family of collectors – the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard and Lady Wallace.

Delve into the history of collecting through the ages with Collecting Past and Present. During this study day, leading specialists will explore women collectors, from Queen Anna of Denmark in Jacobean England to Mildred Anna Williams in Gilded Age America. You’ll also hear an exclusive conversation with Kate de Rothschild Agius, who will shine a light on the important contributions made by women collectors from the Rothschild family, as well as reflect on her own collecting passions and inspirations

Read the full programme description here

Take part at the museum: This event will take place in the Theatre, Lower Ground Floor at the museum. Places are free but booking is essential. 

Watch Online: This event will also be broadcast live from the museum on Zoom. All ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks only.

Background image: The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. © Pierre Behar

Uncover the riches of the still life genre as we explore artworks in the Wallace Collection and beyond. We’ll learn how, from the 16th century, still life became a subject in its own right, appealing not only to Catholic, but also to newly emerging Protestant patrons.  As new plants came to Europe following the voyages of discovery, still life developed in diversity and unsurpassed technical brilliance, particularly in the work of Dutch painters. We’ll look closely at a range of fascinating art objects, delving into the context and symbolism of still life elements in a variety of fascinating art objects.

Read the full course description here.

Joining Information and Format: This course will be taught through Zoom Webinar. Each course session duration is 120 minutes, including a five-minute break and Q&A session with the tutor. 

Tickets are for all dates of this course. Ticketholders will be emailed the Zoom link, Webinar ID and Passcode 24 hours in advance of the first course session, which should be retained for accessing all sessions.   

Course Recording: This course will be recorded. Within 48 hours of each course session, ticket holders will be emailed a link to view the recording, which will be available for two weeks.