Gallery Policies

A rendered image of a temporary gallery space at The Courtauld. People hang paintings and a table is laid out on the right for inspecting works. i The Courtauld Temporary Gallery. Image Forbes Massie Studio

Included here is a set of policies covering a range of activities involved in the day-to-day running of the gallery.

Photography and Filming in The Gallery

Photography without flash for personal use is permitted throughout The Gallery unless otherwise stated in certain rooms. Tripods, monopods and selfie sticks are not permitted.

Permission must be sought for filming. If you wish to film inside The Courtauld Gallery please email marketing@courtauld.ac.uk with a brief synopsis of the project as well as with details of crew size, equipment, technical requirements and dates you hope to carry out the work, at least two weeks in advance of your planned shoot.

For commercial filming and location shoot enquiries, please email venuehire@courtauld.ac.uk.

Sketching and Painting in The Gallery

You may use these materials in The Courtauld Gallery:

  • fine-tipped pens
  • all pencils
  • wood or plastic encased pastels/charcoal or crayons

These materials are not permitted in The Gallery:

  • paint or other wet materials
  • charcoal
  • permanent markers
  • fixative spray
  • oil pastels not encased in wood or plastic

Borrowing Works of Art from the Gallery

The Courtauld welcomes loan requests from museums and galleries and other venues where public access and benefit can be guaranteed.

We require a minimum of 12 months’ notice for international venues and 9 months’ notice for loans to UK venues. Exceptions may be made under special circumstances.

Please address a formal written request to Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen, Head of the Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld, Somerset House, London, WC2R 0RN outlining the scope of your exhibition and reasons for borrowing. If you are a first time borrower from the Courtauld, please accompany your request with a completed Facilities Report.

The Princes Gate collection

Please note that there is a legal presumption against lending from the Princes Gate Collection but any requests will be considered at twice-yearly meetings of the Samuel Courtauld Trust’s board of Trustees. Works on panel before 1600 cannot be loaned. Other works from the Princes Gate Collection may only be loaned as a matter of exception and with approval of the Trustees.

Useful Contacts:

Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen

Head of the Courtauld Gallery

Hannah Kauffman

Registrar of Collections

Provenance Research

In accordance with the Statement of Principles adopted by the National Museum Directors’ Conference (NMDC) in November 1998 and the statement issued by the Museums and Galleries Commission in April 1999, The Courtauld Gallery has undertaken work to examine the provenance of its collections with regard to the spoliation of works of art during the Holocaust and World War II period.

Provenance Research
conservaion student assessing the back of a canvas

Immunity from Seizure

The Courtauld Gallery is able to provide immunity from seizure under Part 6 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.  This Act provides protection from seizure for cultural objects from abroad on loan to temporary exhibitions in approved museums and galleries in the UK.

Immunity from Seizure
A self-portrait of Van Gogh wearing a green coat, a blue hat with a black trim, and a bandaged left ear. A Japanese print and an easel can be seen behind him. i Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) , Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889), The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) © The Courtauld

Citations