The fire that severely damaged the west wing of Somerset House, an arts centre housed in a historic building in the heart of London, was brought under control on Saturday 17 August around 7pm, according to the London fire brigade. “There are no injuries” they said; the 150 visitors and staff were able to be evacuated before the emergency services arrived. For now, “it’s too early” to comment on the condition of the building, said Jonathan Reekie, director of the Somerset House Foundation.
The fire started at 12:25 on Saturday: the police had received numerous calls when thick grey smoke began to come out of the roof of the west wing of the building. Quickly brought under control, the fire nevertheless required the dispatch of 20 trucks and the mobilisation of 125 firefighters who managed to put out the flames using two ladders over 30 metres high. “The age and architecture of the building made the operation a real challenge for our teams” said Deputy Commissioner Keeley Foster. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. An investigation has been opened.
Despite the scale of the fire, the works of art were spared from the flames. “The west wing mainly houses offices and storage areas and does not house any works of great value.” explained Jonathan Reekie, the director of the Somerset. The Courtauld Gallery’s collections, mainly located in the north wing, were not affected.
Somerset House is a neoclassical building built in 1796 under the direction of the architect William Chambers. Since 1990, the art centre has housed the Courtauld Gallery museum, attached to the Courtauld Institute of Art, an educational establishment specialising in the study of art history. The Courtauld Gallery, founded in 1931 by Samuel Courtauld, has a private collection of 33,000 works: paintings, drawings, sculptures and decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Somerset House exhibits Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, including masterpieces by Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Édouard Manet and Paul Cézanne. Vincent Van Gogh’s famous self-portrait Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear from 1889 is part of the collections.
The Courtauld Gallery reopened on Sunday 18 August but other areas of Somerset House remain closed until further notice. The event “Daytimers x RepresentAsian” dedicated to South Asian art was cancelled on Saturday as well as the “London Battle”a breakdancing event celebrating the sport as part of the Paris Olympic Games.
