Masterpieces From Buckingham Palace – The Queen’s Gallery, London

A review of Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace, now on at the Queen’s Gallery. A chance to see the Queen’s best paintings close up and outside of the usual limited summer opening of Buckingham Palace.

Masterpieces From Buckingham Palace

Now this is an exhibition that does what it says on the tin. It is no secret that the British royal family own a superb art collection. The Queen is even kind enough to share it with us common folk through regular exhibitions at the Queen’s Gallery. That kind of wealth, power and stability over generations* allows for top notch collecting, including the ability to let paintings appreciate in importance over time, or even to have a Caravaggio in the attic which you’d forgotten about.

Generally, the best paintings hang together in Buckingham Palace, where state visitors can appreciate them. The public can also see them during the Palace’s short opening season each summer. Currently, though, Buckingham Palace’s Picture Gallery is being refurbished. The Queen’s Gallery have taken this as an opportunity to put the highlights on display; approximately 60 paintings which represent the best of the best. There are several good Rembrandts. Canalettos compete for attention with Artemisia Gentileschi and Parmigianino. Over in the other room, its Van Dyck and Rubens who are on show. These are the Old Masters at the top of their game.

*The stability of royal collections is always relative. Charles I’s collection was dispersed after his execution, for example. And it was a surprise recently to find a good chunk of the Spanish royal collection at Apsley House.

What Makes A Masterpiece?

If I were to reduce this exhibition to its essentials, it is a very pleasant display of extremely good paintings. The curators have attempted to engage the audience above and beyond looking at the images themselves, by layering in two types of information. The text panel for each painting thus tells us how and when the painting entered the royal collection. It also poses questions about why each painting might be a masterpiece. Is it because of the techniques involved? The materials used? The artist’s ability to convey emotion?

The former is very interesting. I knew from past exhibitions that certain monarchs have been a lot more invested in the royal art collection than others. Charles I was a prolific collector, for example, as was George IV. What I didn’t know until this exhibition was that several important works were gifted to Charles II by other nations on his restoration to the throne. The latter angle, that of exploring why a masterpiece is a masterpiece, I found a little less convincing. I think in order to do it justice, the curators would have had to go into far more detail. It’s also a little difficult to convey the quality of a masterpiece without a comparison to something which is similar but lesser quality. Probably not as easy to do when curating the royal collection.

So, like I often think with the Queen’s Gallery, if you want to see some stonking works then this is the show for you. If you want to be challenged, probably don’t try the Queen’s own gallery for that sort of thing. But with some really wonderful paintings to see, and free talks daily at 12 and 3, this exhibition is well worth a visit.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace until 13 February 2022

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