Wallace Collection of the wealthiest families in Europe. They owned large properties in England, Wales and Ireland, and increased their wealth through successful marriages. Politically of lesser importance, the 3rd and 4th Marquess and Sir Richard Wallace became leading art collectors of their time. The Wallace Collection, comprising about 5,500 works of art, was bequeathed to the British nation by Lady Wallace in 1897. The state then decided to buy Hertford House to display the collection and it was opened as a museum in 1900. As a museum the Wallace Collection's main strength is perhaps its extraordinary array of 18th-century French art:
Ingram Collection of Modern British Art in oil and on paper, sculptures, installations and videos. The main focus of the collection is on the art movements which developed in the early and middle decades of the 20th Century, art which responded to the influence of the two world wars, and art which challenged the usual and the regular. The collection features a broad base of artists with particularly strong groups of works by William Roberts, Edward Burra, Keith Vaughan, John Tunnard, John Craxton, and Richard Eurich. The sculpture holdings are significant, featuring works by artists such as, amongst others, Robert Adams, Kenneth Armitage, Reg Butler, Lynn