Glorious
Gainsborough

Brief

Our work often opens the door to some of the greatest seats of art history. In June 2019, we handled masterpieces by the great British painter Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788). The exhibition, Masters of the Golden Age: Gainsborough, Constable, Turner and Lawrence, was opened at Gainsborough’s House in Suffolk in the east of England. Gainsborough grew up in this house and it has now become a museum, and we were thrilled to assist the institution in one of its most ambitious exhibitions to date.

Major paintings from the Golden Age of British painting were loaned by a private collector for the show, most for the first time ever. Although some of the collection was London-based, the majority of works were based in Jersey, a 5-hour ferry journey from the south coast of the U.K.

Solution

We sent a team to Jersey to undertake the de-installation of the nine works and crated them in bespoke fine art crates that we ensured were suitable for the journey between the island, just off the coast of France, and their destination in the east of England.

Our team carried out the sea and road transportation of artworks to Gainsborough’s House in several stages. The Jersey collection was brought to one of our London fine art facilities for a short time for storage while we brought in the works from other locations – various museums (UK and international) and several other private clients, Foundling Museums and the National Gallery. Once assembled, the collection of loaned works was transported in a single consolidated load to Suffolk. We orchestrated the installation on-site at the museum under the eye of the museum’s curators. For smaller institutions that do not have their own technical teams, this is the best option; trained and fully insured art technicians can conduct the hanging quickly and efficiently with a low risk of error or damage.

Once the exhibition closed in late 2019, we handled the return to Jersey and re-installation of the works to the complete satisfaction of the lender.

It was our pleasure to work with Gainsborough’s House to facilitate the delivery and return of loans for this exhibition, a great show of an important period in British art history.

All images courtesy of Gainsborough’s House Society.