Dulwich Picture Gallery Review

It was really nice. I would only go there for a cake or something like that but nothing like lunch

Fantastic Escher exhibition in a beautiful building. Was quite crowded, but that's the artist's fault, not the gallery!

At a private function. Very friendly and helpful staff.

I loved the collection of paintings. It is one of the oldest galleries, created especially for that purpose in 1817. Although the space is relatively small, it is worth visiting because it has many valuable works, English, Dutch, Spanish and a little Italian. In addition, a beautiful park for relaxation.

Really nice to have this world class gallery sitting in a residential area across from a park. Easy to park and close to Dulwich Village. Gallery itself have a passable cafe within the grounds. Free entry to the cafe.

Would be nice to be able to see the permanent exhibition for free.

A lovely museum with some fascinating exhibitions to supplement their permanent collection. There's a nice cafeteria as well as gardens to sit in during the summer.

The oldest gallery in the UK, beautiful building designed by Sir John Soane. Make sure you get to the featured exhibition before the last day otherwise you might not get a postcard!

Excellent place to visit on a sunny afternoon, the outdoor seating and cafe are great.

Great gallery, with regular interesting exhibitions. Quite small, so can be very busy. Pleasant grounds and cafe.

Small but attractive gallery in a nice building and grounds, with friendly staff. Well worth a visit if you're in the area, or a longer detour if there's a particularly good exhibition on.

The building contains a mausoleum tomb for the founders of the gallery. However, this room is effectively behind a "paywall" in the special exhibition area - there is one currently. So you have to pay to enter all the galleries including the mausoleum.

Went to visit the Sargent Watercolour exhibition. Very nice and doesn't take too long. Took some pictures in the garden, where there are several places to buy some refreshments.

Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London. The gallery, designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination, opened to the public in 1817. It is the oldest public art gallery in England and was made an independent charitable trust in 1994. Until this time the gallery was part of Alleyn's College of God's Gift, a charitable foundation established by the actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Edward Alleyn in the early-17th century. The acquisition of artworks by its founders and bequests from its many patrons resulted in Dulwich Picture Gallery housing one of the country's finest collections of Old Masters, especially rich in French, Italian and Spanish Baroque paintings and in British portraits from Tudor times to the 19th century. The Dulwich Picture Gallery and its mausoleum are listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.

Interestingly and fairly unique little gallery with a good cafe, in interesting surrounds.

Beautiful space and the Sargent watercolours exhibition was awesome. With Art fund Card we got in for half price too

Lovely old beautiful location between Brixton and Pekham with permanent collection and also a beautiful garden. Very interesting artistic exhibition. Just a short walk from the underground. The staff is not very gentle and ready to smile. That is a pity but after all i tell you to go because the nice sensation by all the artwork and also the building. Step-access and disabile parking

Enjoyed the gallery as well as the very pleasant cafe and grounds.

Amazing and breathless the Rembrandt exhibition... Something I could not loose to see.. I hope there will be another occasion in the future.... The organisation and all the stuff was amazing.
Also the neighborhood is absolutely fantastic

Hi, this special place - the first public, purpose built art gallery in the world - always has niche shows most suited to it's unique 'visiting show' exhibition rooms.
Current show is no exception a multi-talented artist working geographically far away from the mainstream, yet her work impacted globally.
Amazing, surprising and delightful.

Joined the gallery for a couple of exhibitions we wanted to see. Downside of the place is difficult to get to. Not in central London have to catch overground train to get there from Victoria. (Cost included in rail card though) Finally a 15 minute walk to the gallery.

Gallery well laid out, with informative information.

Several food options available. Snacks and also a restaurant which serves lunch time meals. Reasonable value and quality.

Enjoyed our visit here, not the biggest but interesting and the cafe had some great choices too

A wonderful gallery with well displayed paintings. 'Girl at a window' by Rembrandt was simply magnificent. Initial Ticket reception not very friendly or welcoming and the Cafe rather chaotic - cake provided then 10 minutes later, the drinks! The Exhibition of Hockney etchings was excellent.

Excellent exhibition in a lovely human scale gallery. Good lunch too.

Its the oldest, and they have a reasonable collection....erm......but that's really abut it to be honest. The price is a little high. However the sting in the tail. When we went half the gallery was closed for a special exhibition that you needed to pay for. So lets get this straight, to get to the exhibition for which you have to pay extra for you have to pay to get into the building first, which is half closed but not half price. If you have no interest in the permanent exhibition, but you want to see the special exhibition, you still have to pay twice. However if you only want to see the permanent exhibition, half of it is missing ....because of the special exhibition...which you have to pay extra for...hmmmm. ALL the other galleries in London....which by the way have a much better collection, are free....go to them....if you want to see a special exhibition there, you pay separately. This makes sense...paying twice doesn't, and neither does paying full price for half a deal. Shabby, wont be returning, wont be recommending.

Any review I might write would not be a patch on the review-article by Ian Jack in The Guardian, Saturday 16 May, on the Ravilious Exhibition. It is timely (' appeal to people who otherwise struggle with the idea of Englishness'), illuminating, and heart-felt. Ian is right: 'Landscapes are important to national identities Visitors took their time to gaze on each picture' [Absolutely true the 4 times I have visited it ] Ravilious had given them permission to like England, and to mourn it.'
Perhaps you should ask Ian how many stars he'd give it. The rating above is mine.

Superbly curated exhibition of Tove Jansson's oeuvre. Wide-ranging and intriguing. She was always true to her principles of diversity and inclusivity.

The gallery is not very big but the collection of exhibited painting is worth visiting. The staff is super awesome and has a beautiful cafeteria where it is a pleasure to have breakfast or lunch.

Beautiful collection of Art - highly recommend. One of my favourites London.

Compact display of old masters in the first purpose built public gallery.

Stunning architecturally but ticket for entry is not the cheapest. Have occasionally great exhibitions that can justify the price of admission and a decent gallery overall if you re a fan of the art displayed.

Great Gallery with super friendly staff and great exhibitions

An elegant art gallery with some incredible paintings. Bit of a pain to get to, but worth it.

Great gallery with great activities for young children

Baffled as to why what seemed to be a tin of cheap vegetable broth was described as "Thai curry"

Like the Dulwich Picture Gallery a lot. Great collection of Old Masters & interesting visiting shows. The current Escher show is on until 17.1.16 - well worth a visit.

Slight downside is the small gallery space which can get very crowded.

Decent cafe & lovely grounds.

Highly recommended.

Dulwich Picture Gallery has a great collection and puts on some wonderful temporary exhibitions. However, I remember the days when the staff and volunteers were friendly and welcoming, which is no longer the case. The invigilators in the temporary exhibition galleries have very little consideration for visitors (and I've experienced insolence from them) and heaven help you if you step over the lines on the floor in the main galleries, wanting to take a close look at the brushstrokes in paintings that are glazed and, therefore, unlikely to be harmed by you getting close to them. Oh no, step over the line for a close look and you are pounced upon and told quite firmly to keep behind the line. Thank goodness there are other galleries where it isn't a strict requirement to keep so far from the paintings that you can't examine the artist's mark making.

This small but important historic gallery designed by the redoubtable John Soane stages frequent exhibitions. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt and Watteau.
The modern cafe set in a pleasant garden draws an equally large if not more enthusiastic crowd. Certainly adds up to a worthwhile outing.

15, to me, seems a bit expensive for such a small collection ( both permanent & the Ribera). Grumpy staff: I was told off for wearing a small knapsack which I have worn on one shoulder in both The Nat gallery & the British Museum.

Good Moomin exhibition but for adults not children. More about the wartime artist than the Moomin books

This place is my little corner reminding me of Helsinki Kumpula. I love the whole atmosphere here. Last year almost every day i visited this place and worked there. Staff are amazing and so lovely service!

Quality food and coffee and pastry!

This review relates to the cafe only. Very slow Service, lots of staff standing around. Not clear if it was waitress service or order at the counter. Also - not one single cake was suitable for vegans. In this day and age that is not good enough! Not asking for an entire vegan menu - but just to be able to have something would be good. Get with it Dulwich Gallery Cafe!

This is a lovelly place with a lovelly cafe and great gallery and some top notch exhibitions ,I HV been going for years and it's great to HV such a good gallery so local

Lovely gallery, suprisingly good amount of pictures and some amazing exhibitions. Well worth checking out.

Interesting focus on European painting over a limited period, grouped by country. Loved the light effect created by stained glass in the mausoleum. Great cafe in attractive grounds.

Excellent gallery, very well displayed and organised permanent and temporary exhibitions. The missing star goes for the unfriendly staff at the coffee shop. It's a real shame because the shop itself and its position looking back the gallery and gardens is great, unfortunately the staff doesn't give a damn about providing a good service and most of them look like they don't really want you there..

The Gallery is located in a nice park and has a cafe and restaurant. It is a very pleasant place to relax and enjoy some art.

Lovely paintings by Rembrandt, Poussin and Gainsborough and beautiful trees in the grounds. And a fun Pavilion.

I keep coming back here for the quality of the exhibitions they put together. The latest one is Rembrandt and Light which is spectacular and very intimate show. I ve seen shows of Rembrandt all over the world and this one is special. Visit with the audio guide and get lost in this world

One of the best galleries in the UK if not the best

Beautiful spot in Dulwich. Not sure their standard collection of art would be to my taste, but the M.C. Esher exhibit was fantastic if a bit crowded. It was worth the trip.

The whole experience of a beautiful day and wonderful painting was spoilt when I saw some earings In the gallery shop and the staff couldnt identify the earings and price on the system. I waited patiently while it took them half an hour. As it was the last pair and ex display I asked politely and with a smile if It can be duscounted and the staff agreed and the manager came and said no we cant and kept saying why you asking and The assistant explained but the manager kept saying dobt know why you would ask. Anyway as I reslly liked the earings and wanred to support the local artist I paid but then to make matters worse he said oh I can give you a bag whuch is free . It was a paper bag and I said that is free anyway and he said you want something for free so you csn have this. So I just gave the earings back. It was an insulting experience and ruined my day. I even gave donation at the entrance.

Wonderful Gallery, They have a number of outstanding exhibitions every year, the current one examining aspects of Edward Bawdens illustrations and watercolours. The gallery is privately financed so help them by eating in their lovely restaurant or visiting their shop. A day at this gallery is always a day well spent due to the fabulous exhibitions and overall ambience. If you love art, you will love this gallery. lectures, and films are part of the galleries experience as well as a host of well orchestrated special events.

I really enjoyed this picture gallery. The Slade picture exhibition was really interesting; it really outlined some of the key challenges faced by artists at the turn of the century. I would really recommend it to everyone who is fortunate to come across it.

Nice gallery, nice coffee shop, horrible rude staff in shop...

Beautiful John Singer Sargent Watercolours exhibition - try to see it before it goes on 8th October. Plus, lovely cake in the gardens!

Nice little gallery with some Dutch masters. I can confirm what others said about the staff: they are considering themselves a bit too important, rushing through and you better make way. Their security guard should maybe be uniformed - the More

John Singer Sargent exhibition is certainly worth seeing. His watercolours are so inspiring. Disappointed the outside coffee stand was shut though.

Highly recommended! This gallery is my favourite in London. Especially, Rembrandt s Light exhibition, that is unlike any other Rembrandt exhibition I ve ever seen! After seeing it once I could not get it out of my head and have visited this enchanting exhibition three times by now! Well curated, expertly lit by Peter Suschitzky- it is a treasure! If you appreciate art- you still have a chance to see it by 2 Feb 2020!

First time visiting. A real gem in a beautiful space and with a collection that can be consumed during a single visit without getting overwhelming.

This gallery has a long and interesting history, as I am sure it will tell you. I will not repeat all here.

I believe it is the oldest gallery in England.

The story goes that the college was rich and the masters enjoyed spending the money as much on entertainment as education. So when an art collection needed a home all the entertainment paid a dividend.

The gallery is not too large, and really worth a visit. Many galleries are too large to see even a small amount of that they offer. This is a nice size for some good, if not exceptional works.

As the gallery is private, there maybe a small entrance fee.

It has a pleasant coffee shop with nice nibbles, and equally pleasant small garden. Much more pleasant for a coffee than a shop in the road.

Afterwards ...

You can also either venture across College Road (east) to Dulwich Park, listed, and has about everything a park should have; or literally on the other side Gallery Road (west) Belair Park. I prefer Dulwich Park.

There is also a great coffee shop in the park near the lake. Fab food too. See end.

I write this because of comments below about getting there. You can get there via West Dulwich (from Victoria) overground station and walk along Gallery Road. It is a leafy walk as you stroll past Belair Park. You may even be able to walk through the park.
You can also travel to Herne Hill from Victoria, or Thameslink. A taxi from the front of the station, a 3O minute walk, a 37 bus (below).

You can also catch train to North Dulwich Station (from London Bridge) and walk through Dulwich Village. From Brixton (Victoria underground every few minutes) from where you can walk (30 minutes, not too interesting) or catch either the:
P4 (single decker) that will stop outside the gallery, or you can get off a little earlier and walk through Dulwich Village; or
37 (double decker, direction Peckham) that will take you to North Dulwich station again.
Both buses run every 15 or so minutes.
42 (double decker), same stop ag 37.

12,49,176,185. Get off at Dulwich Library. Walk through park or down Court Lane. Park more pleasant.

If you do walk through Dulwich Park you can exit Court Gate, walk down Court Lane, past the old graveyard, back through the Dulwich Village to return to Brixton (bus) or London Bridge (train).

If you Google first you will be able to locate where the village stocks one stood the bottom of Court Lane. The sign is still there.

There is also another fabulous coffee shop in the park near the boating lake. Does other things like nice food too! Usually quite busy, especially if weather is nice. You can even buy wine and beer if you wish to just laze on the grass and watch the world go by ....

Nice museum focusing on European painting up to the 18th century. Excellent staff, nice cafeteria.

Fantastic. Drove from Dorset - took the plunge and decided to drive London's mean streets. Good decision, easy drive after leaving M3> Richmond (relief) Easy, free parking outside the gallery (that is worth 5 stars in itself) Sunny day for More

Beautiful location in a nice family- friendly atmosphere.

They often have great events on. Worth checking out. Beautiful building too.

Nice small gallery - good cafe with nice outside seating

Nice collection of masterpieces in Soane's design building

Some excellent portraits in the main gallery. Found it write pricey though considering the national gallery is free.

Good coffee, beautiful new summer outdoor space. Delightful gallery.

England's oldest public art gallery is well worth the trek out, if you're not a south London local. The permanent part of the gallery houses an impressive collection of Old Master paintings. The recent Eric Ravilious exhibition was excellent too. The separate cafe is a perfect place to stop and rest before or after visiting the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Nice food, pleasant surroundings and friendly service. Tables outside face the lawns and gallery, and are very pleasant in the sun.

It used to be free for visiting permanent gallery but now we have to pay fee even for local residents... So now just enjoy the outdoors green ground..

Have you ever accidentally bought something really expensive that you didn t need? That s what happened to Noel, his wife Margret, and their friend Francis. Back in the late 1700s they toured Europe, building up a large collection of paintings for the King of Poland, only to find, after five years of travelling, that there was no King of Poland.

So Noel, Margret, Francis and their royal art collection all lived together in a house they leased in Soho. Even when Noel died in 1807, a mausoleum was built in the back garden so the three friends could stay together. Then, four years later, after a riding accident and short illness, Francis also moved into the back garden.

Anyone who s rented a house can tell you that when your lease expires, anything you leave in the garden is likely to end up in a skip, and that also applies to mausoleums and dead relatives. So to continue their cohabitation a new home was urgently needed.

The solution, opened in 1815, one year after Margaret s death, was the Dulwich Picture Gallery (and Mausoleum). So now, 200 years later, this is where you ll still find the three friends and their royal collection.

It is always a pleasure to visit here (probably my 8th or 9th visit today). The paid-for exhibitions are always done well and have unusual and thoughtful themes. The staff are friendly and helpful. A walk afterwards in the park rounds off the trip nicely.

Dulwich Picture Gallery is marvellous... Don't miss it

best restaurant in dulwich really good salmon
and i loved the Andy Warhol exhibition

Always putting on brilliant and outstanding temporary exhibitions, even though i find their permanent collection is a bit dull

Not the easiest place to get to, but starting from Aldgate I found buses 40 and 42 went near enough. Not my favourite gallery because the main collection is of severe, dark oils. But I went to see the Singer Sargeant exhibition. It is a stunning collection of his lesser known watercolors. An absolute delight, awesome and a great achievement putting them together.