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:
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is a museum in Canonbury Square in the district of Islington on the northern fringes of central London. It is the United Kingdom's only gallery devoted to modern Italian art and is a registered charity under English law. The Estorick Collection was founded by American sociologist and writer Eric Estorick (1913–93), who began to collect art when he moved to England after the Second World War. Estorick and his German-born English wife Salome (1920–1989) discovered Umberto Boccioni’s book "Futurist Painting and Sculpture" (1914) while they were on