The Wallace Collection and the Eranda Visitor’s Library, London

Written by Guy Robertson, originally appearing in ELAN, number 74/Fall 2023

Franz Hals’s “Laughing Cavalier” gazes at us from his portrait in the Great Gallery in London’s Wallace Collection, and delivers what many consider the haughtiest smirk in 17th century Dutch art. We accept the Mona Lisa’s demi-smile as a perpetual mystery, but the Cavalier’s expression makes us want to defy him. In fact he is not laughing. His long, upturned moustache amplifies his arrogant grin.

“He’s a toff who needs a sharp slap,” says a Canadian art history student who visits the Wallace Collection regularly. “His silk costume is lovely, and everybody admires his proud pose. But we’re not sure who he was in real life. Obviously he was rich and well-fed.”

Hals’s painting is only one of the masterpieces in the Wallace Collection’s Great Gallery. Nearby hang works by Rembrandt, Titian, Poussin, Velazquez and Rubens. In other rooms you will find a world-class collection of French paintings, sculpture and furniture. Along a wall stands Levasseur’s magnificent book cabinet (c. 1775), constructed of oak and ebony. You will not see a more beautiful set of shelves anywhere in Europe; it has been a must-see for visiting librarians since the Wallace Collection opened to the public in 1900.

When researchers want to find out more about the works that line the walls or sit in display cases, they go downstairs to the Eranda Visitors’ Library, which offers first-class reference services. The reference resources allow the staff to answer questions on the Old Master paintings, 18th and 19th Century French paintings and decorative arts, porcelain and maiolica, miniature paintings, and the history of art collecting. The library holds approximately 20,000 items, including exhibition catalogues and auction records. Researchers often ask for information on the Wallace Collection’s arms and armour exhibits, which include a selection of deadly but nonetheless gorgeous swords, crossbows and other weapons. On long-term loan to the library is a collection of rare fencing books printed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Wallace Collection guards joke that there are almost no security problems because they are so well armed.

The Wallace Collection is an associate member of the University of London Research Library Services (ULRLS). Students use the Eranda catalogues to obtain historical and current information on various works of work in the galleries, from the most famous oil painting to the obscurest miniature watercolour or piece of porcelain.

“Along with its library, the Wallace Collection is one of the best resources for teaching Western art history,” says a visiting Cambridge lecturer who is writing a book on Dutch art and culture. “You have the artworks to examine closely, and the library materials to support further study. Much larger British and European galleries don’t offer the same level of service coordination.” He notes that with the French-style brasserie in the courtyard, visitors can comfortably spend entire days conducting research or simply looking at favourite paintings.

“You can’t sleep in the building, or doss down in the square outside,” says the lecturer, “but there are decent hotels in the neighbourhood.” Perhaps Hals’s Cavalier is smirking at the thought of spending all of his time in the Great Gallery, while visitors must leave when the Wallace Collection closes. But many will return, again and again.

The Wallace Collection is located off Oxford Street behind Selfridges, in Manchester Square. The building is Hertford House, which is open daily—except from December 24 to 26—from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Admission is free.