Pre-Raphaelite Treasures at the Palace

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Paintings return to home of the Art and Craft Movement

A collection of paintings - never seen in public in full before - will be exhibited for the first time in May at Fulham Palace.

Nearly all the 53 paintings and drawings, bequeathed to the former Metropolitan Borough of Fulham by art collector Cecil French in 1953, will be on show to the public from May 23 to June 1.

The exhibition will be housed at Fulham Palace, in Bishop's Park, the borough's only Grade One listed building, in an exhibition titled ‘Beauty Never Fails’. 

The bequest includes late 19th and early 20th century British artists and comprises 26 paintings by the genius, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, who lived in Fulham. Also on show will be important works from Lord, Frederic Leighton, Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema and George Watts.

The exhibition is being organised by the Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham, Cllr Minnie Scott Russell, with proceeds in favour of the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. This charity aims to increase public awareness about the nature, symptoms and dangers of depression. 

Among the paintings in the Cecil French Bequest are ‘Cupid delivering Psyche’, an instantly recognisable Burne-Jones painting and ‘The Garland’.

Other notable paintings are ‘Mariana in the South’ by John William Waterhouse and ‘Mother and Child – Threads of Life’ by Frederick Cayley Robinson.

The Cecil French Bequest has been housed since 1983 at Leighton House Museum, Kensington where seven of the paintings are on permanent show. Others can be seen on request since the works on paper cannot be exposed to constant light. 

Burne-Jones became friends with arts and crafts pioneer and artist William Morris at Oxford. Morris later lived in Hammersmith, and Burne-Jones dabbled in the arts and crafts movement, designing ceramic tiles, jewellery, tapestries and book illustration.

March 7, 2008