Some of the finest paintings in the exhibition come from Upton House. They were collected by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted.
Lord Bearsted – son of one of the founders of what is now Royal Dutch Shell – purchased Upton House in 1927.
He remodelled the house and created more space for his paintings: for example he covered over the squash court and installed a gallery there instead.
Lord Bearsted left Upton House to the National Trust in 1948 to ensure that his collection would not be broken up.
In the eighteenth century, Upton House was owned by the banker Francis Child, who used it as a hunting lodge. The Child family’s paintings hung at Osterley House near London, and one of these paintings can also be seen in this exhibition.
From this house you will see the following works in the Mauritshuis:
- Jan Steen - The Tired Traveller (c.1660-1661)
- Jan Lievens - A Magus at a Table (c.1631)
- Gabriel Metsu - The Duet (‘Le Corset Bleu’) (c.1660)
- Pieter Saenredam - Interior of the Church of St Catherine, Utrecht (c.1660)
