Photo credit: Grayson Perry © Richard Ansett, shot exclusively for the Wallace Collection, London
Mayfair’s Wallace Collection has announced two exciting exhibitions for 2025, exploring the works of contemporary British artist Grayson Perry (Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur) and Italian master of chiaroscuro, Caravaggio (Caravaggio’s Cupid).
Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur (28 March – 26 October 2025)
This landmark exhibition will feature over forty of Grayson’s works, created especially for the show, which explore the influence of the gallery’s collection on contemporary art.
Perry’s connection with the gallery goes back to when he was a young artist, fascinated with the dichotomy between the femininity of French Rococo art and the overt masculinity of the arms and armour. Historically rigid gender roles have been a recurring theme throughout Perry’s career which is also explored in the exhibition.
The show will also consider the role of artists in the future by placing handcrafted objects created through hours of intense labour alongside digital art created almost instantaneously through the click of a button.
Perry’s fantastic storytelling will create a stage for the exhibition. The Wallace Collection explains: “While developing the exhibition, the fictional persona of Shirley Smith came into being, a woman who wakes up in Hertford House after a mental health crisis and believes herself to be the rightful heir to the treasures that surround her. Through ancestral portraits and Old Master copies, this imagined life will touch on the real stories, influences and difficult experiences that art can bring to the fore.”
The Wallace Collection adds: “Opening on the artist’s 65th birthday, Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur offers an elaborate commentary on the very nature of making and collecting art. Touching upon a variety of themes, including the creation of domestic space and how it engenders a sense of safety, the gendering of decoration, and perceived perfection versus authenticity, the exhibition will be a major moment for one the country’s most respected artists.”
Grayson Perry explains: “Creating exhibitions with museums has always been a source of joy for me, formalising my lifelong interest in reinterpreting artefacts through my own lens. Working with the Wallace Collection has offered both excitement and a unique challenge: I was captivated by the craftsmanship seen in the collection but I struggled with the opulent aesthetic which I found cloying at times. Fortunately I worked out a strategy that helped me find a fresh perspective. I am very grateful to Xavier Bray for planting the seed of this exhibition in my head and to the staff and trustees of the Wallace Collection for allowing me to play in their jewel box.”
Caravaggio’s Cupid (26 November 2025 – 12 April 2026)
Caravaggio’s Victorious Cupid (also known as Amor Vincit Omnia) forms the centre of this exciting exhibition. On show in the UK for the very first time, this beautiful seventeenth century masterpiece will be shown alongside The Wallace Collection’s statue on the same theme, Love Triumphant, after an 18th century original by Jean-Pierre Tassaert.
The theme of the exhibition is the paragone; this form of comparison between paintings and sculptures was popular during the Italian Renaissance where both medias were championed for their own merits.
The show will also consider the relationship between artist and patron. The Wallace Collection explains: “Giustiniani [who commissioned Victorious Cupid] was a scion of a Genoese banking family and the embodiment of a Renaissance Man; he had trained as an architect and was well-travelled, alongside being an elegant essayist and an accomplished musician. Giustiniani is said to have prized Victorious Cupid above all other works in his collection, of which there were twelve other paintings by Caravaggio. At the time, this was the largest collection of the artist’s work ever assembled and for this reason, a section of the show looks at the relationship between artist and patron.”
Also on display: Boulle
A free display of clocks by André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732), the celebrated cabinetmaker to the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV, will be on show until 2 March 2025.
About
The Wallace Collection is located at Manchester Square, just a mile from Hertford Street. The collection, amassed by Sir Richard Wallace and the Marquesses of Hertford, contains an extensive selection of fine and decorative arts. The collection is arranged over 21 galleries in an elegant townhouse which was once the home of the Marquesses of Hertford.