GLASGOW'S museums are known for their collections of national and international significance.
From Salvador Dali's Christ of St John on the Cross in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to the Chinese art and intricate tapestries which will return to the Burrell Collection, which is due to reopen its doors next year, the city's collections have helped it become the most visited civic museum service in the UK.
And now that collection has been boosted even further as Glasgow Life has acquired an impressive and little-known painting by one of the great Flemish Old Master painters, Sir Anthony van Dyck, entitled Marchesa Lomellini. This is the first Van Dyck to enter the city’s collection.
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Painted in Italy between 1621 and 1627, it features a young Marchesa Lomellini, a member of the noble Lomellini family of Genoa. The striking portrait showcases van Dyck’s skilful ability to depict lifelike human expressions and intricate costume.
The painting will be on display in the Looking at Art gallery in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum from next month.
The artwork comes from the collection of Sir Ilay Mark Campbell, 7th Baronet of Succouth (1927-2017) and Lady Campbell.
Glasgow has a rich civic art collection
Lady Campbell and her family generously offered the painting to Glasgow Museums Collection, which is cared for by the charity Glasgow Life, as part of the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme, administered by Arts Council on behalf of the UK Government.
Councillor David McDonald, chairman of Glasgow Life, the arms-length organisation which runs the city's culture and leisure services, said: “We are thrilled to accept this significant painting. Acquisitions are a source of excitement, celebration and inspiration and now more than ever, they highlight the contribution art and culture play in peoples’ wellbeing.
“Until now Glasgow did not have a painting by van Dyck. This portrait, by an internationally important Old Master painter, greatly strengthens our world-class fine art collection and connects well with other paintings we have on show. Not only will it attract much attention from regular visitors, but given the excellent standard of the painting, together with the international importance of the artist, it is likely to draw tourists from across the world now they are safely able to travel to Glasgow once again.”
The Herald has been campaigning for a fair funding deal for Glasgow
The Cabinet Secretary for Culture Angus Robertson said: “The Acceptance in Lieu scheme is an excellent way to enrich the range of internationally renowned paintings and artefacts that are available for everyone in Scotland to enjoy.
“The donation of Sir Anthony Van Dyck’s unique Portrait of A Lady to Glasgow for display at its Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is extremely welcome, particularly as it is the first painting by this artist to enter the city’s collection. This is an important and valuable acquisition, one which I hope will give great joy to many people.”
Edward Harley, OBE, chairman, Acceptance in Lieu Panel, said: “This portrait, possibly of the Marchesa Lomellini, dates from the artist’s six-year stay in Italy, an important period of his work which is not often seen in British collections. I am pleased to say that this will be the first painting by Van Dyck to enter a collection in Glasgow. I hope that this example will encourage others to use the scheme to find a place for great art in our national collections.”
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The painting’s rich provenance links with Scottish artist and art dealer Andrew Wilson, who acquired the work from the Lomellini family, as part of a series of Genoese portraits bought in Italy in 1828. The painting once hung in the same room at Palazzo Lomellini as the most ambitious of all van Dyck’s Genoese portraits, the Lomellini Family which hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland. It was then purchased by Sir Archibald Campbell of Succoth, of Garscube House, near Glasgow. His great-grandson, Sir George Campbell lent it to the city of Glasgow as a long term long where it hung in Kelvingrove from 1946-76, before it was inherited by the late Sir Ilay Campbell.
The Herald is campaigning for A Fair Deal for Glasgow, calling for a new funding model for the city after the charitable trust Glasgow Life, lost £38m as a result of the pandemic. We are calling for the city’s cultural assets and venues of national significance to be recognised and receive a fair share of national funding from governments at Holyrood or Westminster.
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