Bute's art treasures loaned to National Galleries

Arts Correspondent

Friday 4 May 2012

A LONG-TERM series of loans between one of the richest private collections of art in Scotland and the National Galleries will begin this month.

Mount Stuart

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Phil Miller Arts Correspondent

The Marquess of Bute, also known as Johnny Dumfries, and his family have agreed to lend the National Galleries of Scotland masterpieces from their ancestral home of Mount Stuart for at least three years, with further loans or co-operation likely in the future.

From May 18, the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh will display 19 of the family's Old Masters collection, particularly its Dutch and Flemish pieces, including works by Jan Steen, Pieter de Hooch and Jacob Jordaens. Masterpieces from Mount Stuart: The Bute Collection 18th May - 2nd December 2012 at the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. There are hundreds of artworks at Mount Stuart, the Victorian Gothic mansion on the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde. It was built by the 3rd Marquess of Bute and is home to "one of the greatest collections of Old Masters in the UK", the galleries say. To mark the new relationship, Bute fabric will form the backdrop for the Masterpieces from Mount Stuart: The Bute Collection display at the Scottish National Gallery, where the cafe and restaurant will be serving 19th century recipes from Mount Stuart's archive. The ingredients will be supplied from Bute. Michael Clarke, the director of the Scottish National Gallery, said: "This display, Masterpieces from Mount Stuart: The Bute Collection, represents an important collaborative project between two of Scotland's major collections and we look forward to working together in the future." Nineteen Dutch, Flemish, early Netherlandish and French works will be on show from May 18 to December 2, and the works will then enter the national collections for at least three years. The works have been displayed in public as a collection only once before, when they were moved to the mainland for the 1949 Edinburgh International Festival. Works from the Bute Collection have in the past become part of the national collections, and another link between the two institutions is architectural – the architect of Mount Stuart was Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, who later designed the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. Anthony Crichton-Stuart, brother of the marquess and an art historian, has written the historical introduction to the display's catalogue. The Bute Collection was primarily formed in the late 18th century by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute and Prime Minister to George III. The collection was displayed at Luton Hoo, the 3rd Earl's house in Bedfordshire, until it was destroyed by fire in 1843. The paintings were placed in a number of Bute family residences across the UK, including properties in London and later at Dumfries House in Scotland and Cardiff Castle. During the 1940s and 1990s, the paintings were transferred to Mount Stuart. The mansion had the first electric lighting, central heating and passenger lift of any house in Scotland, as well as the first indoor swimming pool. Since 1995 the house has been open to the public. The Dutch and Flemish paintings include rural landscapes by Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691), an artist favoured by British collectors in the 18th century; a winter landscape by Aert van der Neer (1603/04-1677); and Jacob van Ruisdael's Mountain Landscape with a Waterfall (about 1665-70). The display also features many works from the Dutch golden age.

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Bute's art treasures loaned to National Galleries

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