LONDON WALK NO 94 – GROUP 3 – DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY & SURROUNDS ORGANISED BY DI HALEY & BARBARA MYATT – Wednesday 16th November 2016

With the weather holding out, and the promise of a fine day, 14 of us gathered on a delayed “early” train to Charing Cross which was very full. Not everyone got seats at first, and a charming lady shamed the men around her and, getting very worried about some of our ladies standing, gave her seat to Isabel. Unusually, we alighted at Orpington, and crossed over platforms to wait for the next train to West Dulwich. Although nine stops, the time passed quickly as we celebrated Janet’s birthday and all sang to her! From West Dulwich station, we had a short walk to the Dulwich Picture Gallery, passing an interesting oak tree, granite sculpture and lead trough/planter.

This sculpture was presented by the Art Fund to mark the bicentenary of the museum's opening in 1811 as the first public art gallery in England, and is called ‘Walking the Dog’ by Peter Randall-Page. I immediately thought of what this could possibly replicate, but am relieved to learn that Randall-Page visited the gallery and was inspired by the Sir John Soane building, the history and outdoor setting. The three carved boulders reference the three founders of the gallery and the decoration replicates the 'running dog' decorative frieze on the building.

This is the first sculpture to enter the collection and the first work of art to be permanently placed in the gardens. Here we took a welcome coffee break (and some had cakes too!). Then we made our way into the Gallery, taking advantage of the 2for1 offer or Art Fund membership. Photography was permitted, so with a plethera of pictures to choose from, I set about trying to find parts of the artwork to challenge the reader! Phyllis seems to be on her own in the Gallery, but it was in fact quite busy.

The idea was that the reader might recognise the artists, but sadly I now don’t remember them, except for the last two – miniatures painted in oil on copper by David Teniers the Younger c.1640.

The picture on the left however does have some significance – again oil on copper, after Christofano Allori, the original being in the Uffizi, Florence, is titled “Judith with the Head of Holofernes”! We were fortunate enough to catch the final display in the Making Discoveries series. Am I Rembrandt? brings the Dutch Master’s flamboyant Self-Portrait, Wearing a Feathered Bonnet, 1635, (on loan from Buckland Abbey, National Trust) to London for the first time. The display also delves deeper into the Gallery's own works by the painter, including Girl at a Window, 1645, shown for the first time with its surviving preparatory study. The comparison reveals how Rembrandt transformed a quick charcoal sketch, made from life, into the finished painting. Dulwich Picture Gallery’s paintings Jacob de Gheyn III and Girl at a Window are undisputed works by Rembrandt that are often used as a standard by

which to judge unsigned paintings from the same periods. Rembrandt's small early portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III has been stolen and recovered four times, most recently in 1983, and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most frequently stolen artwork in the world. It has been recovered from a left-luggage office in West Germany in 1986; returned anonymously; found on the back of a bicycle; and discovered under a bench in a graveyard in Streatham. The painting is now guarded by an upgraded security system.

The Self-Portrait’s status as an authentic work by Rembrandt has been questioned in the past but, following extensive technical analysis and investigative work by the National Trust and leading Rembrandt specialists, the painting was firmly attributed to the master in 2014. Am I Rembrandt? explores how curators and conservators worked together to authenticate the painting, and uses the loan as a starting point to examine the authorship of other works by Rembrandt acquired by the Gallery’s

founders in the late 18th century. Jacob’s Dream was once one of the most admired paintings by

‘Rembrandt’ at Dulwich. Towards the end of the 19th century, however, it was suggested that the painting was in fact by Rembrandt’s last pupil Aert de Gelder. This theory was confirmed when restoration uncovered a signature in the lower right corner. All but one painting in the Gallery are oils – watercolour would not survive the strong light through the glass ceiling. Some of the group took advantage of the special Exhibition of the works by the Dutch landscape artist Adriaen Van de Velde. The Gallery also contains the founders’ Mausoleum, Bourgeouis and Desenfans. Sir John Soanes designed the Gallery following the death of Bourgeouis as requested in his will and included the Mausoleum. Soanes’ design and architecture, comprising a series of interlinked rooms lit by natural light through overhead skylights, has been the primary influence on art gallery design ever since. He designed the sky lights to illuminate the paintings indirectly. When his wife, Eliza Soane, died 200 years ago, it changed the British streetscape through the strange afterlife of the tomb he designed for her, which inspired the design of the iconic red telephone box. Her tomb, which became the family vault, was raised over her grave in Old St Pancras churchyard in 1816, and inspired the Giles Gilbert Scott telephone kiosk. Gathering outside the Gallery, Di shepherded us round the corner to look at the Almshouses and Chapel together with the statue of Edward Alleyn, who played a large role in the manor of Dulwich in the early 1600’s. Di had given us a very useful resumé of interesting facts relating to the history of the Gallery, Alleyn, and Dulwich Village in general.

Later on we would pass signs indicating ‘the College of God’s Gift’. James I authorised Edward Alleyn to establish a college in Dulwich with that name. The sign on the Grammar School has an interesting history. Designed by Sir Charles Barry, there are two mistakes on the sign over the door - the capital C on 'College' and D of 'Dulwich' have been swapped and reversed! Perhaps Barry was too busy working on the Houses of Parliament and remodelling of Trafalgar Square to check on this small project.

A passing young man volunteered to take our group photo, so we are all in it this time. Lunch was calling, and so we made our way into Dulwich Village, with Di pointing out more interesting facts en route, from her walk notes. The majority of us decided to go into Gail’s, the Artisan Bakery, recommended by Di and Barbara.

Most of us settled for scrambled egg on toast, and tea …… not exactly a celebration of Janet’s birthday! But there was plenty of laughter and joking about age, although Janet wasn’t 8 or 80 !! This was a very busy café, but we were quickly seated and eventually all of us were fed.

Meeting John and Brenda outside, we made our way to the Old Cemetery and burial ground, including victims of the Great Plague, and Grade 2 listed monuments and cemetery gates. The village pub was being refurbished, and the hoardings were covered in amusing drawings based on Poussins’s “Triumph of David”. In both these artworks, people are shown celebrating. Street artist RUN shows people marching happily towards Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Going back the way we had come, I spotted a shop sign which might well have influenced where I went for dinner had we still been in Dulwich !! Before heading for home, Di wanted us to see Bell House, built in 1767 for the Lord Mayor of London. The house gets its name from the striking bell tower, and I sneaked through the gates to take a picture. Whenever a fire broke out in the village, the bells of Bell House and the Dulwich College chapel were rung in order to gather help in pumping up water for the village fire engine. Bell Cottage with its white boarding was another interesting property. Also on the “to see” list was the last remaining London Tollgate in College Road. The weather was crisp and dry, and the walk amongst the autumn leaves, past the College grounds, was envigorating (substitute “tiring” for some!). The Table of Tolls caused more laughter, as some crossed the road to read the text, and we shouted out “Should have gone to SpecSavers”!

Retracing our steps back past Dulwich College, we arrived at the rear entrance of West Dulwich Station. Opposite Di pointed out the archway entrance into Belair Park. The Little Owl, dragonfly and ginkgo leaves symbolise the wildlife and ornamental features of Belair Park in this archway designed for the West Dulwich entrance by local artist Heather Burrell.

Climbing the many stairs, we made our way on to the platform for the journey home, again via Orpington. Thank you Di and Barbara for stepping up to take the November walk, and for another interesting day.