In this session, Alan Crookham and Nicholas Smith offer a guided tour of 200 years of history through the Gallery’s archives - prized possessions in their own right. You will have the opportunity to follow the evolution of the Gallery whether that be through momentous acquisitions, handwritten ransom notes, or beautifully illustrated drawings of the Gallery's architecture. 

When Sir Charles Eastlake was appointed Director of the Gallery in 1855, one of his duties was to travel abroad to acquire works for the collection, including ‘good specimens of the Italian schools’. Each summer he toured the continent, often accompanied by his wife Elizabeth, who became an authority on art in her own right, and his manservant Nicholas Tucker. Eastlake made extensive notes on the paintings he viewed at dealers' premises, and in public and private collections, recording their subject matter and condition, and in some cases his opinion on their attribution. This session will leaf through Eastlake’s notebooks and look at the regions visited and the paintings, as well as exploring some of the highs and lows of travel in the Victorian period.

The Impressionists and Post-Impressionists are some of the most popular artists in the Gallery but their place in the collection was not always so assured. This session will look at the early controversies about the merits of these painters, including archives relating to the Hugh Lane Bequest, the Degas sales and the Courtauld Fund, all of which helped build the foundations of the Gallery's Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection. Originally displayed at the Tate Gallery, the session will also consider the boundary between the two galleries and the subsequent transfers of paintings from Millbank to Trafalgar Square.