Clare Hayward

Review of Dulwich Picture Gallery

First visit to the gallery to see Tove Jansson exh...

First visit to the gallery to see Tove Jansson exhibition. We had already bought our tickets online so the only odd thing about arriving at the gallery is it wasn't clear that we could go straight in, there were tills for purchasing tickets but we already had ours so walked right in. The gallery is small, perfectly formed and the building and layout is well appointed in the grounds. At the entrance of the exhibition (invade the gallery) was the first point we were told that there was free lockers for our rucksacks at the front door of the gallery (they're literally just inside the very first automatic doors but tucked away so easily missed), so we went back and dropped them off. Recommended because some parts of the exhibition were a bit of a squeeze (Saturday is going to be popular though!) Again, the gallery can only work with the space they have, Janssons illustrations are small and some areas of the display naturally drove many people to zoom in for a closer look. Really enjoyable overall and a treat as many items typically don't leave their home gallery in Finland. The gallery shop was very nice with a variety of gifts. I had hoped for more Jansson prints but there's a guidebook of the entire exhibition available to buy. (Parking was easy - free parking on Gallery Rd, but if you visit Saturday morning prepare to compete with families going to the playing fields across the road.)