0:00:05 > 0:00:09Imagine a world that is very different from today.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11A world where there are no public galleries
0:00:11 > 0:00:13full of colourful paintings.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15Where the Old Masters like Leonardo da Vinci
0:00:15 > 0:00:18and Michelangelo are hardly known.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Where art is considered purely decorative,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25and the artist a mere craftsman.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31It's astonishing, yet this was Britain 400 years ago.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35Since then, great works of art have flooded onto British shores
0:00:35 > 0:00:39and our appreciation of art and artists has been transformed.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42This is the story of the private collectors
0:00:42 > 0:00:44who brought a wealth of treasures from overseas,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47whose patronage encouraged British-born artists,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51and whose personal passion for art and individual taste
0:00:51 > 0:00:53helped create this cultural revolution
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and shaped the artistic direction of our nation.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03In this programme, I'm going to look at how the role of collectors
0:01:03 > 0:01:06changed radically throughout the 19th century,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09kick-started by events that happened not in England
0:01:09 > 0:01:14but across the Channel in revolutionary France.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Revolution and war always unlocks collections.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20The market becomes very fluid.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24How Britain's first canal-builder the Duke of Bridgewater,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28turned from inland navigation to speculation in the art market,
0:01:28 > 0:01:33landing one of the greatest hauls of paintings ever on British shores.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40How, as Britain embraced democracy, collectors began to donate art
0:01:40 > 0:01:45on an unprecedented scale to build our national collection.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49They are hoping like crazy that all these patriotic fellow-countrymen
0:01:49 > 0:01:52will bequeath or give paintings, and that's exactly what happened.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01And how we moved into an era of eclecticism and variety
0:02:01 > 0:02:06as newly-moneyed industrialists and bankers expressed their powerful
0:02:06 > 0:02:09personalities and individuality in their bold purchases.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14With pharmaceuticals magnate Thomas Holloway backing
0:02:14 > 0:02:17what he considered the best of British,
0:02:17 > 0:02:22while two Welsh heiresses brought Impressionism to Britain.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25As collectors at the time they were revolutionary.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28And extraordinary that it was two women who did this.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45GUNFIRE/PEOPLE SHOUTING
0:02:50 > 0:02:541789 - the French Revolution was in full swing.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Aristocratic lives were in peril,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02so too were their magnificent art collections.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Including that of the Duke of Orleans.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11His art collection was virtually unrivalled in the whole of Europe
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and had been the envy of connoisseurs around the world.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18It boasted Raphaels...
0:03:19 > 0:03:21..Tintorettos...
0:03:22 > 0:03:23..Titians...
0:03:24 > 0:03:27..paintings by all the great Old Masters.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32These tumultuous times would cost the Duke his head...
0:03:35 > 0:03:37..and the collection its home.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Old Masters like these had been the most coveted prizes
0:03:43 > 0:03:47sought after by the English collectors for the past 200 years.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Now, this amazing cachet of paintings
0:03:49 > 0:03:52would go to the highest bidder,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56and a group of British aristocrats conceived an ingenious plan
0:03:56 > 0:04:00of forming a syndicate to be sure of outbidding their rivals.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05These canny Lords were the Duke of Bridgewater,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09the Earl Gower and the Earl of Carlisle.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13For the three men, the sale of the Orleans collection
0:04:13 > 0:04:16was a chance to purchase the greatest single group
0:04:16 > 0:04:20of masterpieces to come on the market for 200 years.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26With much of the rest of Europe in tatters after years of war
0:04:26 > 0:04:29and revolution, Britain was by contrast well-placed
0:04:29 > 0:04:32to become the home for this collection.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34The British were rich,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and British aristocrats had a huge appetite for art.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44This is Castle Howard in Yorkshire
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and was home to the fifth Earl of Carlisle,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49one of the partners in the syndicate.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Carlisle and Gower were both already enthusiastic collectors.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Carlisle had been on a grand tour.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01He took his dog with him
0:05:01 > 0:05:04and came back with a fine collection of Italian art.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Gower had served as ambassador in Paris
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and so would have been well aware of the Orleans collection.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Bridgewater's enormous wealth came from his development
0:05:16 > 0:05:21of a canal system, and he was by all accounts less erudite.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24On his grand tour, it was said he was more interested
0:05:24 > 0:05:29in the Languedoc Canal in France than in the art on display.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Nevertheless, he could spot the opportunity to turn a profit,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35whether in industry or paint.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Archivist Chris Ridgeway has some documents that tell
0:05:40 > 0:05:42the tantalising story of the Orleans sale.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46It's called the Bridgewater syndicate because it's named after
0:05:46 > 0:05:50the principle stakeholder who was the Duke of Bridgewater.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53I mean the very rich canal-builder,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55famous from the second half of the 18th century.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58But the Duke of Bridgewater is only one of the three men,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01so Francis Duke of Bridgewater, Frederick Earl of Carlisle
0:06:01 > 0:06:03here of Castle Howard
0:06:03 > 0:06:06and Bridgewater's nephew George Earl Gower.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Those are the three men who formed the syndicate.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13And this document here is their agreement, is it?
0:06:13 > 0:06:16It's a hand-written memorandum of agreement
0:06:16 > 0:06:21outlining all, as it were, the participants,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23crucially the stakes that they put in,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26the sum, so Bridgewater puts in £27,000,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Carlisle puts in £10,000
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and Gower puts in £5,000.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35And there's a bit of preamble and then crucially,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38you've got the signatures and their seals.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42So this is a legal document as well as a memorandum of understanding.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45And this is a really new step, isn't it, in our collecting,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48because this sort of thing hadn't really happened in Britain before?
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Doesn't seemed to have happened in Britain before in relation to art.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54As I say, in the commercial world this is probably, you know,
0:06:54 > 0:06:55going on everyday of the week,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58but this seems to be one of the earliest instances
0:06:58 > 0:07:01where they are doing it with a bulk of paintings rather than,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05say, commodities or tea or something like that.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08What they did with the paintings was quite novel, wasn't it?
0:07:08 > 0:07:11They actually exhibited some of them, didn't they?
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Well, that's the key to them being able to sell them
0:07:14 > 0:07:16and get their money back.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19So they had to go on sale in London.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22This is the schedule of all the paintings.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24- Tintoretto continued. - Yeah.
0:07:24 > 0:07:25Titian, all these Titians.
0:07:27 > 0:07:28- My goodness. - Veronese here.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Velazquez here. I mean, this is a role call of European art,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36I mean, the great masterpieces of Europe.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40And here they all are in London en masse
0:07:40 > 0:07:42available for people to see
0:07:42 > 0:07:45and even better, available for people to buy.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50When the syndicate put the collection on exhibition,
0:07:50 > 0:07:55it was so vast that it needed to be housed in two venues.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01The show lasted for seven months, causing huge public excitement.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03But for the syndicate,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05the point of putting these great Old Masters on show
0:08:05 > 0:08:09was not to open up art to the public, but to sell it.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14The three men reserved the paintings they wanted to keep
0:08:14 > 0:08:19and through the sale of the rest of them pulled off an amazing coup -
0:08:19 > 0:08:23they acquired their own pictures at virtually no cost to themselves.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Speculating on art had clearly worked.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31And today, Castle Howard is still home to some of the works
0:08:31 > 0:08:34that the ingenious and entrepreneurial Carlisle
0:08:34 > 0:08:37acquired from the sale.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41The Earl's descendent Simon Howard retains a delight in the art
0:08:41 > 0:08:46his ancestor bought. Not least this exquisite work by Titian.
0:08:46 > 0:08:47Gosh, that's beautiful.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52It's called Gaston de Foix and it's rather beautiful, you know,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54with the page boy dressing the warrior.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58The green velvet is fantastically painted.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01This must be one of the favourites in the collection.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03It is. It's got a charm about it that I think is wonderful.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07When you look at the working of the green velvet in the page boy
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and the reflection in the armour and the look on both faces.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12They're lovely expressions.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17I just love it and it's one I've known all my life
0:09:17 > 0:09:19and always been interested in
0:09:19 > 0:09:22because of the whole debate about who it's by.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Currently it's attributed to the young Titian.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27Yes, it is.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30And so it would have been the fifth Earl of Carlisle who bought this.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35- Indeed.- And he clearly would've been attracted to it,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38as he was to many of the Old Master paintings in that sale.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42He was, and he was a great collector and he had a great eye and erm,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44what he brought into this house
0:09:44 > 0:09:47really was probably some of the most important paintings in the house
0:09:47 > 0:09:52- that we have.- So that particular collection, the Orleans sale,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54did that really change the collection here?
0:09:54 > 0:09:58- Well, put it this way, they named a room after him.- Oh, well, yes...
0:09:58 > 0:10:01They hung most of them in one room and called it the Orleans room.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07Today, only the Earl's portrait remains in this room,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and now most of the paintings from the Orleans sale
0:10:10 > 0:10:11are in the music room.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16The Titian isn't the only work where the attribution has changed
0:10:16 > 0:10:18over the years.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Today, this painting is thought to be by the Italian painter Bedoli,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24but this was not always the case.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28At the time of the Orleans sale, this painting was catalogued
0:10:28 > 0:10:31as the Duke's Ferrara by Tinteretto,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33and one of the really fascinating things about it
0:10:33 > 0:10:36is its prodigal journey here.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39The Dukes of Ferrara were one of the great collecting dynasties
0:10:39 > 0:10:41of 16th century Italy
0:10:41 > 0:10:45at a time when Italy was at the epicentre of art and collecting.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49By the 18th century, it had arrived in France
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and become part of the Orleans collection,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56and by the beginning of the 19th century it was here at Castle Howard
0:10:56 > 0:10:59as the British moved to the forefront of art collecting.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05In many ways, the Orleans sale marked the pinnacle
0:11:05 > 0:11:09of the British aristocrat collector.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Up to this point, the landed gentry had been the ones with the money
0:11:13 > 0:11:16and appetite to buy such a wonderful collection.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21But within the triumph of this sale there were clues
0:11:21 > 0:11:23as to how collecting would change
0:11:23 > 0:11:26as Britain became a more democratic nation.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30For the last few decades, there had been a growing fashion
0:11:30 > 0:11:33for the middle classes to visit great country houses
0:11:33 > 0:11:36to view their art in situ.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39But rather than the people having to seek out the collection,
0:11:39 > 0:11:43the Orleans show brought the collection to the people.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46In doing so, it whetted the appetite for art
0:11:46 > 0:11:49amongst the wider population.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Now, a new kind of collector came through the doors -
0:11:52 > 0:11:55men made rich by industry and banking.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59These "newly moneyed" collectors saw the value of art
0:11:59 > 0:12:02and its power to endorse their cultural credentials.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07One of the chief buyers at the Orleans sale
0:12:07 > 0:12:11was a John Julius Angerstein, a Russian emigre
0:12:11 > 0:12:16who made his fortune as a merchant and Lloyd's underwriter.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18And it would be Angerstein's collection,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21rather than that of a British aristocrat,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24that would make an historic contribution to the story of art
0:12:24 > 0:12:29in Britain - because it was his collection that would form the basis
0:12:29 > 0:12:33of our National Gallery in 1824.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46The idea of a National Gallery had been in the air for a few decades.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49In an age that was beginning to embrace democracy,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52calling for the rights of all men and women,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56there was a growing opinion that perhaps art should be available
0:12:56 > 0:12:58to more than just a handful of rich collectors.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05The idea had been discussed in parliament but had come to nothing.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Then Angerstein's death in 1823 forced the issue.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20This journey from private drawing rooms to public display
0:13:20 > 0:13:23is charted in the archives of the National Gallery.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And Susanna Avery-Quash is the curator of private collections.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The Angerstein Collection consisting of 38 pictures
0:13:33 > 0:13:37was purchased for £57,000.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Various noblemen and aristocrats were worried
0:13:40 > 0:13:44that when Angerstein died his collection would be sold abroad
0:13:44 > 0:13:46as other collections had been in the past,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49so they pushed and they shoved and they made a loud noise,
0:13:49 > 0:13:54and the government, who had luckily been given some money
0:13:54 > 0:13:57from a war loan from Austria, used the money to buy the collection.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00- So that is the start.- That's the start of the National Gallery.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03And from then, obviously, it leads to certain requests.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08Yes. And gifts and certain purchases, but also they're hoping,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12because they don't really have an annual purchase grant early on,
0:14:12 > 0:14:13nothing's very systematic,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17so they're hoping like crazy that all these patriotic fellow
0:14:17 > 0:14:20countrymen will bequeath or give paintings,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22and that's exactly what happened.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25What's fascinating to me is that the mood was really changing
0:14:25 > 0:14:27- amongst these private collectors, wasn't it...- Yes.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29..at the beginning of the 19th century?
0:14:29 > 0:14:31They were determined to share things.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34They were, and almost a snowball-effect.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Somebody did something by gift or bequest
0:14:36 > 0:14:39and then a whole stream of other people followed in succession.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44That's really exciting to see number one, National Gallery Number one.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Exactly, and what it tells us also is that
0:14:47 > 0:14:49it's a painting by Sebastiano del Piombo
0:14:49 > 0:14:51of The Raising Of Lazarus.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Here it is, National Gallery number one -
0:14:57 > 0:15:00The Raising of Lazarus by Sebastiano del Piombo.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04It came to England via the Orleans sale
0:15:04 > 0:15:08and in a way was the very first painting to be saved for the nation.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12The National Gallery itself and many of its finest treasures
0:15:12 > 0:15:16are here thanks to private collectors both past and present.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19But the fact that these individuals felt motivated to share
0:15:19 > 0:15:21their collections with the public
0:15:21 > 0:15:24signalled a new attitude towards art.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30This new sense of philanthropy dominated the attitude
0:15:30 > 0:15:32of collectors as the century progressed.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37In what became a huge democratisation of art,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40treasures like this moved out of private hands
0:15:40 > 0:15:43and into the public ownership.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46And bequests came from many sources.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49For example, that of the Reverend Holwell Carr
0:15:49 > 0:15:51who bequeathed 35 paintings
0:15:51 > 0:15:54including Titian's Holy Family With A Shepherd
0:15:54 > 0:15:57and Tintoretto's Saint George And The Dragon.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02So now the Great British public owned world-class paintings
0:16:02 > 0:16:05alongside the rich and the aristocrats,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08but were they ready for such artworks?
0:16:10 > 0:16:14The archives also give an insight as to how some of the public responded
0:16:14 > 0:16:17to this new national institution.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20It's quite clear that the general public at the time
0:16:20 > 0:16:23didn't really have an understanding of an art gallery
0:16:23 > 0:16:26almost being like a sacred temple to the muses,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29and they should show respect and keep quiet and so on.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34In fact, in one of the select committee reports,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38the keeper of the day noted that when he challenged
0:16:38 > 0:16:41some country bumpkins about why they're opening up a picnic
0:16:41 > 0:16:45in the middle of one of the rooms, they offered him a glass of gin.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47What a lovely scene.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Yes, and he also commented that sometimes
0:16:50 > 0:16:52when he went round the galleries at the end of the day
0:16:52 > 0:16:54he would have to clear up little puddles
0:16:54 > 0:16:56because of the schoolboys. There were no facilities
0:16:56 > 0:17:00for relieving themselves, and so they would just do so
0:17:00 > 0:17:03in the corners of the art gallery.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10There was a still a long way to go before the National Gallery
0:17:10 > 0:17:13became the experience it is today,
0:17:13 > 0:17:17but this changing attitude to art reflects the seismic social
0:17:17 > 0:17:19and political changes of the 19th century.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26In 1832, the great Reform Act was passed.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30It extended the franchise and changed constituency boundaries
0:17:30 > 0:17:35to reflect the growth of new towns and industrial centres.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38But most significantly, it began to question the assumption
0:17:38 > 0:17:43that the old aristocracy were born with the right to rule.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49If more of the population had a stake in running their country,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52then everyone from mill workers and factory workers upwards
0:17:52 > 0:17:55had a right and need for education.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03And art appreciation was seen as a crucial part of a good education.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Industrial cities were springing up all over the place
0:18:07 > 0:18:09and were seen as the symbol of the new age.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Progress was becoming a catch word for Victorian Britain
0:18:14 > 0:18:18and nowhere represented progress more than Manchester.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26In the late 18th century, it had had a population of just 30,000,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29by the mid-19th century it had ballooned
0:18:29 > 0:18:32to over ten times that figure.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Manchester's business grandees quickly matched words with wallets
0:18:36 > 0:18:40and established a massive £74,000 fund
0:18:40 > 0:18:43to host what is arguably the largest art exhibition
0:18:43 > 0:18:46ever to have been held in the world.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49The extraordinary thing about the Manchester show
0:18:49 > 0:18:51was that it was made up almost entirely of loans
0:18:51 > 0:18:53from private collections.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Collections that had been built up for the past 200 years
0:18:59 > 0:19:03by generations of families and displayed in treasure houses
0:19:03 > 0:19:05that dotted the country.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10There were 984 lenders to the show
0:19:10 > 0:19:13and emerging from their houses were priceless masterpieces
0:19:13 > 0:19:17that were being shown together and in public for the first time.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23Queen Victoria led the way, loaning 94 works
0:19:23 > 0:19:26including two Rembrandts and a Van Dyck.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29A Madonna, lent from a private collection,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32was reattributed as a Michelangelo during the show,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35becoming known as the Manchester Madonna.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37And Castle Howard lent generously,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41including Carracci's Dead Christ Mourned.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46It was believed that such a show would have been impossible
0:19:46 > 0:19:48in any other country in the world.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50One critic even said it equalled the Louvre.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56The show attracted more than 1.3 million visitors
0:19:56 > 0:19:58from around the world,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and although there's nothing left of the buildings that housed it,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04the Manchester art gallery has some wonderful records
0:20:04 > 0:20:08of this extraordinary art event which archivist Ruth Shrigley
0:20:08 > 0:20:11has researched in detail.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15It was clearly a huge success and it did something
0:20:15 > 0:20:17that had never really been done before
0:20:17 > 0:20:20which was bring the public in to see art.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22In vast numbers.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26And it was, at the time, referred to as "The Greatest Show On Earth."
0:20:26 > 0:20:29- It's as basic as that. - Yes.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It feels very Victorian to record it all in this scientific way.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36It possibly reflects the fact that Manchester businessmen
0:20:36 > 0:20:40and bankers were used to using figures in order to make decisions
0:20:40 > 0:20:43and to argue for policies,
0:20:43 > 0:20:46particularly in relation to social reform.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49That's very interesting, and this is a new thing for art, really,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53to organise an exhibition according to these kind of factors.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Well, certainly to record those factors
0:20:57 > 0:21:01and to be so keen on looking at what influences people to attend,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04and they could see, by measuring the attendance,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06the type of ticket-holder
0:21:06 > 0:21:10who was coming, that they weren't actually getting as many people
0:21:10 > 0:21:13from the working classes who they thought would
0:21:13 > 0:21:17come on cheaper tickets, than they'd expected.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21So they started an experiment part way through the exhibition
0:21:21 > 0:21:25of charging half price on Saturday afternoons after two o'clock.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28That would be the time when people who were working
0:21:28 > 0:21:33in the local mills and warehouses would be available to come along.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34And was that successful?
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Some of the more enlightened employers
0:21:36 > 0:21:41would encourage their workers to visit, and one
0:21:41 > 0:21:44organised a day out for the whole of his workforce,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47so over 2,000 people came.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51But one wonders what the quality of experience was like for people
0:21:51 > 0:21:54- who didn't know what they were looking at- Yes.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59It was such a vast space with so many exhibits crammed into it,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01over 16,000 exhibits,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05so it must have been a very confusing visual experience,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09and even though the organisers had tried to arrange the paintings
0:22:09 > 0:22:13in groups, if you didn't know anything about art
0:22:13 > 0:22:15you would've found it quite difficult.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17So it was really the first stage, they were bringing the art
0:22:17 > 0:22:20to the public but they weren't really interpreting it for them.
0:22:20 > 0:22:21No, they weren't.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Do we have any records of which were the most popular paintings
0:22:24 > 0:22:26- in the exhibition? - Yes, there are some accounts
0:22:26 > 0:22:29which suggest that the most popular ones
0:22:29 > 0:22:33were the those where you didn't need to have an art historical
0:22:33 > 0:22:35- background or knowledge. - I can imagine.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38So paintings with a very strong narrative.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Paintings which were very dramatic.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44For example, Wallis's Death of Chatterton.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48The Hireling Shepherd by Holman Hunt,
0:22:48 > 0:22:50both very colourful paintings.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59The fact that contemporary narrative works by artists like Wallis
0:22:59 > 0:23:01and Hunt, who were part of the new cutting edge
0:23:01 > 0:23:04pre-Raphaelite movement, were in the show at all
0:23:04 > 0:23:07was itself groundbreaking.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11This was the first time that British 19th century painting
0:23:11 > 0:23:13was hung side by side with Old Masters
0:23:13 > 0:23:15for a public audience.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20The message was clear - modern British art was on a par
0:23:20 > 0:23:23with the old European Masters.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26And it is perhaps not a surprise that paintings
0:23:26 > 0:23:29like the pre-Raphealites were so popular in the Manchester show.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34In an attempt to demystify art, the Pre-Raphaelites consciously
0:23:34 > 0:23:39moved away from the grand manner of the Old Masters like Raphael.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Their references were more accessible
0:23:41 > 0:23:44to a less traditionally-learned audience.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48They depicted scenes from well-known English legends and history,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Shakespeare or the hugely popular poet Tennyson.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57But their real hallmark is in creating this dreamlike intensity
0:23:57 > 0:24:01with the use of vivid colours and minute attention to detail
0:24:01 > 0:24:03which was very seductive.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10The Pre-Raphaelites affronted the classical taste of the aristocracy,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14but this contemporary art was just what the new generation
0:24:14 > 0:24:17of collectors was looking for.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Freed from shackles of tradition,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22they wanted something different.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30This new collector had the money and confidence
0:24:30 > 0:24:33to buy what he liked, not what he was supposed to like.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47He was the self-made millionaire
0:24:47 > 0:24:51who had profited from Victorian progress,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55and he was looking to give something back to society on his own terms.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Few people epitomise this kind of collector more
0:25:00 > 0:25:05than Thomas Holloway, pharmaceutical entrepreneur
0:25:05 > 0:25:08and the founder of Royal Holloway College in Surrey.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13A master of his universe,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17once he decided to do something Thomas Holloway made it happen.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19He didn't start buying art until he was 81,
0:25:19 > 0:25:23and then he built up the whole collection in just two years.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28When the college was first founded, it was for women only.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Today it admits men, as well.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34The story of how Holloway created the wealth
0:25:34 > 0:25:38to establish his collection is a classic tale of Victorian progress
0:25:38 > 0:25:40from rags to riches.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Social historian Jane Hammett is a lecturer at the university
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and has researched Holloway's life.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Holloway was from relatively humble origins.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59His father had been in the navy and then he had a series of pubs
0:25:59 > 0:26:02and I think he ended up as a grocer in Penzance,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04so that was really Holloway's background.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08He came from a small business sort of merchant family,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11which would have encouraged him to be quite enterprising,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15but I think there's no clue there to how big he eventually became.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18And when do you think he started making his money?
0:26:18 > 0:26:24Well, initially he actually wasn't all that successful.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26He set up as a merchant in London
0:26:26 > 0:26:32and he hit on the idea of marketing pills and ointments.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36What he was very keen on was advertising his pills
0:26:36 > 0:26:40and ointments, and at first he advertised steadily in The Times
0:26:40 > 0:26:43but this didn't work at first, and he got into debt.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47In fact, he himself was in debtors' prison for a short spell in the '30s
0:26:47 > 0:26:48thanks to his advertising,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52but actually he really stuck to it and when he came out again
0:26:52 > 0:26:56he went back to it and eventually it paid off in a very major way.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00So these are obviously some of the examples of his advertising.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02"Free advice."
0:27:02 > 0:27:08Yes, here we have a fantastic advert offering to purify the blood
0:27:08 > 0:27:12- and for shortness of breath with weakness...- And female complaints.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Hmm, yes. A large and generic category in the 19th century!
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Absolutely. So what are these that you've got here?
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Well, they're a series of collecting cards
0:27:23 > 0:27:26which we think were made for children.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28You can see that they've got this beautiful colour illustration
0:27:28 > 0:27:34on the front showing different birds and different natural phenomena,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38but when we turn them over we can see that we have an explanation
0:27:38 > 0:27:40of what the illustration shows,
0:27:40 > 0:27:45but also rather a large advert for Holloway's pills and ointments.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49- Yes, two thirds advertising. - Yes.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52By the early 1870s, he'd acquired a huge amount of money
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and he didn't really know what to do with it.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00So it's at this point he actually advertises in the Builder
0:28:00 > 0:28:03asking what a philanthropist should do with a million pounds.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07It's quite an interesting new class of person actually, isn't it,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10who's prepared to donate a huge sum of money,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12- really, for somebody else's benefit. - Yes.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Yes, it is interesting, and he was a great philanthropist
0:28:16 > 0:28:20and what he wanted to do was partly, I think,
0:28:20 > 0:28:21to give something back,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25but also by founding institutions that bore his name he was,
0:28:25 > 0:28:30of course, ensuring that he would be remembered for a long time to come.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38The college is a remarkable legacy, but what's fascinating to me
0:28:38 > 0:28:41is that at the heart of the college, Thomas Holloway decided
0:28:41 > 0:28:43to create a picture gallery.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Education for women was still controversial,
0:28:48 > 0:28:51so having an art collection would lend it weight and status.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Holloway bought in bulk and at speed,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59and the collection was made up of art as modern and British
0:28:59 > 0:29:01as the man himself.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05This is Thomas Holloway's picture gallery.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Walking through it is like walking through the pages of a book
0:29:08 > 0:29:11on Victorian art because there are brilliant examples
0:29:11 > 0:29:16of every genre of painting popular with the collectors of the time.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22There are history paintings and Bible scenes,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26grand Victorian narrative paintings which look almost like stills
0:29:26 > 0:29:27from a film.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Social realism like this one,
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Frank Holl's Newgate: Committed for Trial.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Maybe it appealed to Holloway because of his own experience
0:29:37 > 0:29:39in the debtors' prison.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47And these typical Victorian landscapes
0:29:47 > 0:29:51depicting the rural idyll of pre-industrial Britain.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55There are all sorts of different paintings here,
0:29:55 > 0:29:59but for me the unifying factor is that they all appeal directly
0:29:59 > 0:30:03to the emotions. Each painting evokes an immediate response,
0:30:03 > 0:30:07which is what made them so satisfactory for a man
0:30:07 > 0:30:09who wanted value for money in his pictures.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15This painting is called Sympathy by Briton Riviere.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20It's apparently the most popular in the collection today
0:30:20 > 0:30:24and it's really easy to understand why, because it's just so sweet..
0:30:24 > 0:30:27The little girl has been sent in disgrace to sit on the step
0:30:27 > 0:30:29accompanied by her dog.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32We might be tempted to dismiss it
0:30:32 > 0:30:35as an overdose of Victorian sentimentality,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38but it is actually really well painted.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41In fact, the harsh critic John Ruskin
0:30:41 > 0:30:43even went as far as to say that
0:30:43 > 0:30:47"the carpet looks as if it's been laid by Veronese."
0:30:47 > 0:30:48I'm not sure what I think about that,
0:30:48 > 0:30:52but it is on the detail and the finish.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54I mean, look at the little girl's face.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Her eyes are actually welling up with tears.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01And of course detail and finish were highly-prized
0:31:01 > 0:31:03by the Victorian collector,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06because they were a testament to hard work and effort.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Holloway created this collection through his own hard work
0:31:14 > 0:31:17and effort, and as a self-made man
0:31:17 > 0:31:19he had immense confidence in his taste.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24This rather gruesome painting by Landseer,
0:31:24 > 0:31:28which depicts the tragic loss of Sir John Franklin's expedition
0:31:28 > 0:31:31to navigate the North West passage was the most expensive
0:31:31 > 0:31:33in the collection.
0:31:33 > 0:31:39Holloway paid a record auction price of £6,615.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44The equivalent of half a million today, and in so doing
0:31:44 > 0:31:47raised a few eyebrows in the established art world.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Ironically, for the most expensive painting,
0:31:52 > 0:31:54it certainly isn't the most popular today.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00This dramatic picture shows the futility of human effort
0:32:00 > 0:32:03in the face of the destructive forces of nature.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07The two polar bears tear at the remnants of the expedition.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09There's no sentimentality here.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13In fact, during exam time, however, it's said to bring bad luck,
0:32:13 > 0:32:16so the students apparently cover it up with a Union Jack.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Whether the picture brings bad luck or not, for the rest of the year
0:32:22 > 0:32:25at least the students here have the benefit
0:32:25 > 0:32:28of one individual's commitment to collect art.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34Thomas Holloway wasn't the only one collecting in this way.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Other rich individuals were establishing or bequeathing
0:32:37 > 0:32:41collections for the public to enjoy, and municipal art galleries
0:32:41 > 0:32:45graced most cities in Britain by the end of the 19th century.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51But the modernising Britain had an impact on the countryside, too.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57As the 19th century progressed, some old English aristocratic families
0:32:57 > 0:33:00were beginning to struggle to maintain their estates
0:33:00 > 0:33:03and family treasures were put up for sale.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08Now some of the newly rich began to take advantage
0:33:08 > 0:33:10of British pictures coming onto the market.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Family portraits that had once been personal commissions
0:33:15 > 0:33:19intended to reflect the status of Dukes and Lords
0:33:19 > 0:33:20were now available to buy.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24And one of the beneficiaries of this
0:33:24 > 0:33:28was the great European banking dynasty the Rothschilds.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36In the 1870s, the Duke of Marlborough sold off some of his land
0:33:36 > 0:33:38here in Buckinghamshire,
0:33:38 > 0:33:41and it was bought by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild,
0:33:41 > 0:33:46who then set about building himself a veritable palace to art.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52From the outside, Waddesdon looks like a fabulous chateaux
0:33:52 > 0:33:56in the Loire Valley rather than a traditional English country house.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58It also has a very different story to tell.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04Unlike the grand houses of the 17th and 18th centuries,
0:34:04 > 0:34:07the lifetime's work of successive generations,
0:34:07 > 0:34:11this fabulous house, with its equally extraordinary collection,
0:34:11 > 0:34:16was created by Ferdinand Rothschild from nothing in just seven years.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19The outside is impressive,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22but inside, the feeling of opulence is heightened.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28The Prime Minister Gladstone's daughter wrote when she visited
0:34:28 > 0:34:32the house that she felt "oppressed with the extreme
0:34:32 > 0:34:34"gorgeousness and luxury."
0:34:38 > 0:34:40The Rothschilds were one of the richest
0:34:40 > 0:34:44and most powerful families in Europe in 19th century,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48and made their fortune as bankers to monarchs and governments.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57Ferdinand himself was born in Paris, raised in Frankfurt and Vienna
0:34:57 > 0:35:01and then settled in England in 1859.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Collecting was in his family DNA.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11When Ferdinand wrote his reminiscences, he dedicated a chapter
0:35:11 > 0:35:14to his art collecting which he called Bric-a-Brac,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17and in it there's a wonderfully evocative description
0:35:17 > 0:35:21of his early motivation for collecting.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23As a child, he was allowed to help his father
0:35:23 > 0:35:27pack up their art collection when they went to their summer house.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30And he writes, "It was my privilege on these occasions
0:35:30 > 0:35:34"to place some of the smaller articles in their old leather cases,"
0:35:34 > 0:35:38"and then again in the winter to assist in unpacking them
0:35:38 > 0:35:41"and rearranging them in their places.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46"Merely to touch them sent a thrill of delight through my small frame."
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Between them, the five branches of the Rothschild dynasty
0:35:55 > 0:35:58owned 40 great treasure houses spread across Europe,
0:35:58 > 0:36:00including seven in Buckinghamshire itself,
0:36:00 > 0:36:04making them the greatest collectors of the 19th century.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10But what is important about the Rosthchilds
0:36:10 > 0:36:13is not just the fact that they amassed so much,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17but that they established a distinct individual taste.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19Different from the conventional classical taste
0:36:19 > 0:36:24of the British aristocracy, and from that for contemporary art
0:36:24 > 0:36:26shared by many British industrialists.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34150 years later, Ferdinand's collection is still intact
0:36:34 > 0:36:37and the current Lord Rothschild is the custodian
0:36:37 > 0:36:39of this extraordinary collection.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43It's really clear from the whole house that Baron Ferdinand
0:36:43 > 0:36:45was passionate about collecting,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47but do you think it was a lifelong passion for him?
0:36:47 > 0:36:48What had happened to him,
0:36:48 > 0:36:53sadly, was that his wife had died in childbirth,
0:36:53 > 0:36:55and the child died, as well.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58So Ferdinand was left on his own
0:36:58 > 0:37:02and eccentrically to console himself
0:37:02 > 0:37:05he built this enormous house
0:37:05 > 0:37:10as a kind of vehicle within which he could collect,
0:37:10 > 0:37:12and that's what he spent the rest of his life doing.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14He clearly had a very defined taste,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17- which has come to be known as Le Gout Rothschild.- Yes.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20Well, I think what happened was that the Rothschild family
0:37:20 > 0:37:25made money in the first half of the 19th century,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28and then the second half they started to spend it.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32They were all very close with one another
0:37:32 > 0:37:36and very often, if there was a collection that came up for sale,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38they would kind of hunt as a pack
0:37:38 > 0:37:42and divide it up or buy it together.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47Gradually, there emerged, therefore, a kind of Gout Rothschild.
0:37:47 > 0:37:52This combination was a bit odd.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55French 18th-century furniture with English portraits,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59but then if you think about it, it's perhaps not so surprising
0:37:59 > 0:38:03because they were I think anxious to assimilate themselves
0:38:03 > 0:38:05into the English countryside.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08They built these seven big houses in Buckinghamshire
0:38:08 > 0:38:12and to show that they were kind of part and parcel of English life,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15they collected English 18th-century portraits like Reynolds,
0:38:15 > 0:38:19like Gainsborough, and wanted to show those in conjunction
0:38:19 > 0:38:22with their roots, which were all continental.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30This is the Red Drawing Room. It's the central room in the house
0:38:30 > 0:38:33and it's the first that would have been visited by guests,
0:38:33 > 0:38:37so it's like a showpiece room and epitomises the taste
0:38:37 > 0:38:42for which the Rothschilds became famous. That striking combination
0:38:42 > 0:38:43of 18th-century English pictures
0:38:43 > 0:38:47set against 18th-century French furniture and decoration.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53Here we've got portraits by Gainsborough and Reynolds,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57but they are hung in a room full of French furniture and textiles,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59all the best of their kind.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02This carpet was commissioned by Louis XIV himself
0:39:02 > 0:39:05for the Louvre Palace, and the furniture was made
0:39:05 > 0:39:07for the French royal family.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12Waddesdon also benefitted from the sales
0:39:12 > 0:39:16of the Great British aristocratic collections.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20One of Ferdinand's purchases from the Duke of Hamilton's sale
0:39:20 > 0:39:22was this beautiful Gainsborough portrait
0:39:22 > 0:39:26of the tenth duke - a famous collector himself.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33But it's another Gainsborough which was a particular favourite
0:39:33 > 0:39:35of Ferdinand's.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38This Gainsborough is known as the Pink Boy,
0:39:38 > 0:39:42and it really sums up what I think would have appealed to Ferdinand.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44With this painting he was buying into a long tradition
0:39:44 > 0:39:47of English portraiture.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49Gainsborough was noted for often painting his sitters
0:39:49 > 0:39:51in van Dyck costume,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54and there's a really strong similarity between the costume
0:39:54 > 0:39:57worn by this boy and the costume worn by Charles II
0:39:57 > 0:40:01when he was painted as a boy by van Dyck.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06But the charming thing about this portrait is the informality.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09This is not some great heir to an aristocratic family
0:40:09 > 0:40:11standing in front of some grand building.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14This boy looks as if he's just paused for breath
0:40:14 > 0:40:19while playing in that wild Gainsborough landscape behind.
0:40:19 > 0:40:20It might have been a bit sensitive
0:40:20 > 0:40:23hanging someone else's family portraits on your wall,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26but with this more anonymous Pink Boy,
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Ferdinand was able to enjoy all the charm and fluidity
0:40:30 > 0:40:34of Gainsborough's best portraits purely as a painting.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Ferdinand himself died childless,
0:40:39 > 0:40:43but clearly Waddesdon was a passion, which not only dominated his life
0:40:43 > 0:40:46but which he hoped would be a lasting legacy.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49He kept a record of the building and contents of the house
0:40:49 > 0:40:52in a beautifully bound red book.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59There's a rather interesting end on page 11
0:40:59 > 0:41:02about what he felt about the future of the house.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04Oh, that's fascinating.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07In a sense it spurs on the present generation
0:41:07 > 0:41:11because what he says is, "A future generation may reap
0:41:11 > 0:41:15"the chief benefit of a work which for me has been labour of love.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18"I fear that Waddesdon will share the fate of most properties
0:41:18 > 0:41:21"whose owners have no descendants.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24"May the day be et distant where weeds will spread over
0:41:24 > 0:41:27"the gardens, the terraces crumble into dust,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30"the pictures and cabinets cross the Channel or the Atlantic
0:41:30 > 0:41:33"and the melancholy cry of the night-jar sound
0:41:33 > 0:41:34"from the deserted towers."
0:41:34 > 0:41:38So he was very concerned that it should be kept together.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41And so presumably, then, it's very important to you
0:41:41 > 0:41:44to keep the collection together and in the house.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46Yeah, I mean, sentimentally, it's important.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50You know, I was left responsibility to keep it going
0:41:50 > 0:41:52which I happen to enjoy very much.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55And what I've tried to do is not just to make it
0:41:55 > 0:41:59the collection that it was, but also to add pieces
0:41:59 > 0:42:03to the collection which compliment it and indeed add to it.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Waddesdon is above all an ensemble
0:42:09 > 0:42:11and the whole is much more than the sum of its parts.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16You may find similar objects and paintings in museums,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19but there's something extraordinary about seeing them all together
0:42:19 > 0:42:21in the building for which they were bought.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28In many ways, Waddesdon is unique, but that's part of its importance.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32By the end of the 19th century, it was the freedom of individual taste
0:42:32 > 0:42:35that was shaping art collecting in Britain.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38The 18th century fashion for Grand Tour taste had given way
0:42:38 > 0:42:42to a new eclecticism, which was bringing art and styles
0:42:42 > 0:42:44to this country which would never have come here without them.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57And often, to be slightly outside the traditional establishment, helped.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06The coal valleys and industrial ports of Wales
0:43:06 > 0:43:09feel a long way from an art museum in London.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13But it was wealth from these places that allowed two Welsh sisters
0:43:13 > 0:43:17Gwendoline and Margaret Davies to go against the prevailing taste
0:43:17 > 0:43:21of the day and become the advocates for a branch of avant-garde
0:43:21 > 0:43:25French art - Impressionism.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30Monet's Water Lilies are now so widely loved and admired
0:43:30 > 0:43:34it's difficult to imagine that when the Davies sisters were buying these,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37most other British collectors were dismissing them
0:43:37 > 0:43:39as pointless blobs of colour.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43Gwendoline and Margaret were so ahead of their time
0:43:43 > 0:43:46in appreciating the beauty of these paintings,
0:43:46 > 0:43:51and recognising the value of this extraordinary new artistic movement.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59They collected paintings by Renoirs, Van Goghs...
0:44:02 > 0:44:06..Cezannes - all the great names of Impressionism.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10How was it that two sisters in Wales
0:44:10 > 0:44:13at the beginning of the 20th century were amongst just a handful
0:44:13 > 0:44:16of people buying Impressionist work in Britain?
0:44:18 > 0:44:21The two sisters were the daughters of a wealthy industrialist
0:44:21 > 0:44:23Welsh family.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26Like Thomas Holloway, they came from "new money."
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Their grandfather had started life as a carpenter
0:44:30 > 0:44:34but eventually formed a company, which transported coal from pits
0:44:34 > 0:44:37in the Rhondda Valley to ports around the world.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42Gwendoline and Margaret's father inherited the business,
0:44:42 > 0:44:47but he died aged only 45 and left his considerable fortune
0:44:47 > 0:44:51to be divided up equally between his son and two daughters.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55The girls grew up here in Plas Dinam,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58a large country house in mid Wales.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05Gwendoline and Margaret were very aware of their Welsh heritage
0:45:05 > 0:45:07and came from a deeply-patriotic family.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10It was a non-conformist religious household,
0:45:10 > 0:45:14strictly tee-total, and the girls were instilled with a strong sense
0:45:14 > 0:45:17of duty to use their wealth for the benefit of others.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23But it would be misleading to imagine
0:45:23 > 0:45:27that they had a totally sheltered rural Welsh life.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29They were privileged children.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32They briefly went to boarding school in London,
0:45:32 > 0:45:36and at home in Wales they would play tennis and ride horses.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42They had a governess Jane Blaker who accompanied them on trips
0:45:42 > 0:45:44round the London museums and galleries,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47and later went with them on their travels in Europe.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54In 1907, Gwendoline came into her inheritance,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57and Margaret two years later.
0:45:57 > 0:46:02They were said to the wealthiest unmarried women in Britain.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04And almost as soon as they inherited,
0:46:04 > 0:46:06they indulged in their passion for art.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11They made a point of travelling through Italy
0:46:11 > 0:46:13seeking out the Old Masters,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16but they never really looked to acquire any.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20With quiet self-confidence, they kept an open mind
0:46:20 > 0:46:22to develop their own taste.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27This is Margaret's diary from her trip to Italy in 1909.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30And clearly, like many other British travellers before her,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33she was completed seduced by Venice.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37She writes really beautifully with a very artistic eye.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41"Here the water quite calm seems to be made up
0:46:41 > 0:46:43"of several different colours.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46"Here it is blue, there again green, further on
0:46:46 > 0:46:48"it seems a shade of mauve."
0:46:50 > 0:46:53It could be a description of a Monet painting,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56and in fact just a year before Margaret's trip
0:46:56 > 0:46:59Monet himself had been to Venice.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03It's perhaps not surprising that some of the Davies sisters'
0:47:03 > 0:47:08earliest Impressionist acquisitions were Monet's views of Venice.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13Curator Beth McIntyre has charted the sister's development
0:47:13 > 0:47:15as collectors.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18So did the sisters start off collecting Impressionist
0:47:18 > 0:47:22straight away, or did they have to break themselves in gently?
0:47:22 > 0:47:25They really start buying in earnest in about 1908,
0:47:25 > 0:47:29but they don't acquire Impressionists at that stage.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32They're looking at other artists, artists who were pretty well
0:47:32 > 0:47:36established, artists who are known in Britain such as Turner, you know,
0:47:36 > 0:47:41the big names, and here's one of the Turner receipts that we have.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45- Nice big price tag. - Well, Turner's very expensive.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49In fact, they spent more on works by Turner than any other artist.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52So when do you think they really started collecting
0:47:52 > 0:47:54Impressionist painting?
0:47:54 > 0:47:55Well, we know quite specifically
0:47:55 > 0:47:59when they turned towards buying Impressionism.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02We have this letter here which is from Hugh Blaker.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05Hugh Blaker was one of their advisors.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09He was actually the brother of their governess Jane Blaker,
0:48:09 > 0:48:14but was himself an art historian, and he advises the sisters
0:48:14 > 0:48:15and he also acts on their behalf.
0:48:15 > 0:48:21In this letter, which is dated August 11th 1912, we can read,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24"I will certainly keep my eyes open in Paris for anything good,
0:48:24 > 0:48:27"and am delighted that you think of getting some examples
0:48:27 > 0:48:30"of the Impressionists of 1870.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32"Very few English collectors except Hugh Lane
0:48:32 > 0:48:34"have bought them at all."
0:48:34 > 0:48:36That's wonderful to have that letter.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40Yeah, so this really marks quite a change in their collecting
0:48:40 > 0:48:42and a new direction.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46From that time on, from 1912, we see them spending a lot of money
0:48:46 > 0:48:50particularly on the French works, on the Impressionist works.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52They're looking out for other artists such as Sisley,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54Pissarro, Renoir...
0:48:54 > 0:48:57So we think that the sisters wrote with a list of artists
0:48:57 > 0:49:01that they wanted to acquire and he's suggesting some others.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03So that's incredibly forward-looking, isn't it?
0:49:03 > 0:49:05It is, it's very forward-looking
0:49:05 > 0:49:09and it's very forward-looking within England or within Britain,
0:49:09 > 0:49:13but within Wales I would think it would be unique.
0:49:13 > 0:49:14Absolutely.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17So within the next few years after 1912
0:49:17 > 0:49:20they buy eight Monets I think,
0:49:20 > 0:49:26and works by Renoir, works by Rodin,
0:49:26 > 0:49:30Manet, you know, a lot of artists,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32but it's very interesting for us that we have the receipts
0:49:32 > 0:49:35that we can compare prices.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37Cos obviously some of the Impressionists at this stage
0:49:37 > 0:49:40were still not demanding the top dollar figures
0:49:40 > 0:49:42that they do nowadays.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44So here we have the receipt for the Monets,
0:49:44 > 0:49:48the three Water Lilies that they purchased in one acquisition
0:49:48 > 0:49:51in 1913.
0:49:51 > 0:49:56And all of those three purchases you can see for £3,370.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58So this is incredible.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02I think that's what's so fascinating about these sisters
0:50:02 > 0:50:06- cos they were really sure of their own taste.- They were.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09They went about putting a collection together very much
0:50:09 > 0:50:11with their own taste in mind.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14As collectors at the time they were revolutionary.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16They championed a whole new movement.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19They were going in a new direction,
0:50:19 > 0:50:22and one that was yet to be fully accepted within Britain.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24And extraordinary that it was two women who did this.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26Yes, and that's very important as well, I think
0:50:26 > 0:50:29for the history of female collectors.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35This striking painting, Renoir's La Parisienne,
0:50:35 > 0:50:37really stands out in this collection.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41It shows a sophisticated lady elegantly dressed in blue
0:50:41 > 0:50:45and she holds the viewer directly in her gaze.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47The mark of a truly independent woman.
0:50:47 > 0:50:53I love to think of this appealing to these two pioneer women collectors.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57And it's rather fitting that they should have bought on the eve
0:50:57 > 0:51:01of the outbreak of the first world war which was to have such an impact
0:51:01 > 0:51:03on the lives of women in general,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06and in particular on those of the Davies sisters.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Frustrated at observing the suffering of the war
0:51:14 > 0:51:19from a distance, in 1916 Gwendoline volunteered
0:51:19 > 0:51:21at the London Committee of the Red Cross.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26She was sent to Troyes,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30just outside Paris where she managed a "cantine des dames anglaises."
0:51:32 > 0:51:35The idea was to provide coffee, snacks and cigarettes
0:51:35 > 0:51:37to the French troops.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43The women who joined had to fund themselves so were all middle class.
0:51:43 > 0:51:48Some even took maids with them, and most had probably barely made
0:51:48 > 0:51:52a cup of coffee before, let alone survived on the front line of a war.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58Margaret joined Gwendoline in France in 1917
0:51:58 > 0:52:01and threw herself into the work with her sister.
0:52:01 > 0:52:06It wasn't easy and the front line gradually edged closer towards them.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11Despite all the difficulties of the war, the sisters
0:52:11 > 0:52:15retained their passion for art. A more liberated attitude
0:52:15 > 0:52:18towards women was developing and Gwendoline seized the opportunity
0:52:18 > 0:52:23to travel alone to Paris. There she browsed the galleries
0:52:23 > 0:52:25and continued to buy paintings,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29including two wonderful landscapes by Cezanne.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34While the war ushered in a more modern progressive attitude
0:52:34 > 0:52:37towards women, the London art establishment
0:52:37 > 0:52:39was not still not ready for the modern art
0:52:39 > 0:52:41that Gwendoline brought home.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47The sisters had always been very generous loaning their works
0:52:47 > 0:52:50to everyone from the local WI to national museums.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54But when Gwendoline offered to loan this Cezanne landscape,
0:52:54 > 0:52:59The Francois Zola Dam, to the Tate, she was turned down.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04There are some colourful documents that record the reaction.
0:53:05 > 0:53:10At that stage, there were no Cezanne paintings on display
0:53:10 > 0:53:13in the national collections.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17Through Hugh Blaker, they offered to lend two paintings to them.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21And here we can see the reply that the Tate
0:53:21 > 0:53:26or the National Gallery Board had met and expressed their thanks,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29but unfortunately decided not to accept the loan
0:53:29 > 0:53:31of the works by Cezanne.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33So.... They turned them down.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36- They turned them down.- Yes. - My goodness.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40And, erm, Blaker, who's acting for the sisters here,
0:53:40 > 0:53:43then writes to Gwendoline Davies,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46And we have, "The enclosed from Aitken.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48"I'm absolutely disgusted.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51"The excuse of no space is not justifiable.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53"They could easily haul down a Mancini or something
0:53:53 > 0:53:56"and hang these two pictures in its place.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00"So this country is still unique in having no examples of Cezanne
0:54:00 > 0:54:02"in its national collections.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04- "Hopeless!" - Hopeless!
0:54:08 > 0:54:11Despite the purchases of the Cezannes after the war,
0:54:11 > 0:54:13the sisters' collecting slowed down.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19Although many women in Britain had lost loved ones,
0:54:19 > 0:54:24few had seen the destruction and horror the war caused first-hand.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30Increasingly, Gwendoline especially found it hard to reconcile
0:54:30 > 0:54:33the indulgence of collecting with the social deprivation
0:54:33 > 0:54:35and need in the 1920s.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42After the war, the sisters' focus changed from collecting art
0:54:42 > 0:54:45to setting up a centre for the promotion of art in Wales.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48And they did here at Gregynog Hall.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54They bought this house in 1920, and although it became their home
0:54:54 > 0:54:58and housed the collection, its main purpose was to be a cultural centre
0:54:58 > 0:55:02to promote art, music and social change in Wales.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06Imagine this house deep in rural Wales
0:55:06 > 0:55:08full of Impressionist paintings.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11That's how it would've been when the Davies sisters lived here.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13These were two remarkable women.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Not only did they build a revolutionary collection,
0:55:16 > 0:55:21but they also made a place here at Gregynog where artists, writers,
0:55:21 > 0:55:26politicians and musicians could come and discuss ideas and be inspired.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32The sisters didn't completely abandon collecting,
0:55:32 > 0:55:36but by 1924 the majority of their buying of Impressionist painting
0:55:36 > 0:55:37was done.
0:55:39 > 0:55:46Gwendoline died in 1951, but Margaret lived on until 1963.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49It was entirely in keeping with Gwendoline and Margaret's life
0:55:49 > 0:55:53that on their deaths they left their collections as a whole
0:55:53 > 0:55:56to the National Museum of Wales.
0:55:58 > 0:56:03Gwendoline once said the great love of collecting is doing it yourself,
0:56:03 > 0:56:07with expert opinion granted, but one does like to choose
0:56:07 > 0:56:09for one's self, and to me that's what's so wonderful
0:56:09 > 0:56:11about this collection.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14It still has a really personal flavour.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19Gwendoline and Margaret Davies are great examples
0:56:19 > 0:56:22of how private collectors have shaped the history of art
0:56:22 > 0:56:23of a nation.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26As private buyers, they can afford to take risks
0:56:26 > 0:56:28and follow their own paths.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31And it's thanks to great collectors like these
0:56:31 > 0:56:35that Britain is home to such a unique and extensive range
0:56:35 > 0:56:38of art collections.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49Over 400 years, British private collectors
0:56:49 > 0:56:53have helped to move the history of art in this country.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57From pioneer collectors in the 17th century
0:56:57 > 0:57:01whose travels overseas brought back Italian Old Masters
0:57:01 > 0:57:03and introduced the light of the renaissance
0:57:03 > 0:57:05to Britain's dark shores...
0:57:10 > 0:57:13..to the Golden Age of collecting in the 18th century
0:57:13 > 0:57:18when stately homes dedicated to art spread across the countryside.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22And the aristocracy imported the finest continental art
0:57:22 > 0:57:24in unprecedented quantity.
0:57:27 > 0:57:32As well as patronising new emerging British artists.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41Finally, it was thanks to private collectors
0:57:41 > 0:57:44that in the 19th century, art moved from being enjoyed
0:57:44 > 0:57:47in the exclusive drawing rooms of the aristocracy
0:57:47 > 0:57:49to being shared in public galleries.
0:57:56 > 0:58:01Private collectors have profoundly influenced the taste of a nation,
0:58:01 > 0:58:02and their connoisseurship,
0:58:02 > 0:58:07passion and commitment to collecting has hugely contributed
0:58:07 > 0:58:12to the rich and diverse art heritage that Britain boasts today.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21Many of the paintings collected and commissioned by Great British
0:58:21 > 0:58:23collectors are now in public ownership.
0:58:23 > 0:58:25To find out more, visit...
0:58:31 > 0:58:34Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd