The Leighton House Museum, the former home of Victorian artist Lord Leighton re-opens after a two year refurbishment programme.
Leighton House Museum in Kensington, the lavish home and art studio of former Royal Academy president and philanthropist Lord Leighton has undergone an extensive £1.6 million refurbishment and will re-open to the public at Easter.
The one time ‘private palace of art’, which housed an extensive collection of works acquired by Lord Leighton and Victorian architect George Aitchison, has been lovingly restored to its former glory. This Easter visitors will once again be able to marvel at the impressive gilded dome of the house’s central Arab Hall. Other highlights include more than 20 paintings on loan from the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of Wales which are to be hung in their original locations for the first time in over a century.
The benevolent Lord Leighton sparked controversy in his day and the close relationship he had with his models has long fuelled speculation. He is even said to have fathered a child by one of them. Now, for the first time, visitors will be able to catch a glimpse of the secret staircase used exclusively by his 'muses'. Lord Leighton is also often credited with being the real life Henry Higgins in George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion.
The house was stripped of the collections shortly after Lord Leighton’s death and opened as a public museum in 1990. It has been closed since October 2008 when refurbishment work started and will open again in the next few weeks.
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