The Burrell Collection in Glasgow, an outstanding vision of more than 9,000 objects and one of the world’s greatest personal collections, announced today a new exhibition ‘Burrell at Bonhams – A selection of treasures from Glasgow’ to be held at Bonhams New Bond Street, London, 15 December 2014 – 9 January, 2015. This is the first time the Burrell Collection has brought together a selection of objects – many of which will likely form part of a forthcoming international tour – in an exhibition outside Scotland.
The exhibition will feature more than 45 star objects selected from the Burrell Collection in Glasgow and displayed in Bonhams’ state-of-the-art saleroom at 101 New Bond Street. The areas covered by the Burrell Collection include outstanding representative samples, comparable in quality to the V&A, Metropolitan Museum of New York and the Frick Collection. The largest single collection area is Chinese art and is considered to be of exceptional significance, attracting growing attention from Chinese scholars. The second great glory of the collection lies in the Late Gothic and Early Renaissance works of art from Northern Europe, including tapestries (200), stained glass, sculpture and furniture. The third area of strength is Burrell’s excellent collection of French art, amassed with the help of dealer Alexander Reid, friend of Van Gogh and Whistler. Other strong areas include Dutch paintings, British portraits, Islamic art, Persian, Caucasian and Indian rugs and carpets and Near Eastern, Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities.
Sir Angus Grossart, Chair of Burrell Renaissance and board member of Glasgow Life, which manages the Burrell Collection, said:
“The time has come to liberate the full potential of Sir William Burrell’s extraordinary collection and see it achieve its rightful place on the international stage.
“This exhibition is a prelude to an international tour, which will, for the first time, see objects loaned to major institutions around the world. Bonhams, with its strong expertise in fine art and antiques, is a fitting partner to enable us to illustrate the quality which the Burrell holds and to tell the wonderful story of Sir William’s life-long passion and expertise in amassing one of the finest personal collections in the world.”
Colin Sheaf, Chairman of Bonhams UK Board, said:
“Bonhams is thrilled to be exhibiting a wide range of international masterworks from this superb Glasgow collection, which is the product of one connoisseur's personal vision and taste. The display will also highlight the museum-standard technology of Bonhams' state-of-the-art New Bond Street saleroom."
*Tapestry, 1500, depicting activities relating to the month of January; woven in the southern Netherlands; with 200 tapestries in the collection (mostly medieval), the catalogue on William Burrell’s tapestry collection will be published in 2015, with introductory essays, scholarly entries on each work and lavishly illustrated throughout.
