Exhibition Review: Grayson Perry’s Delusions of Grandeur: Craft, Play and Provocation - Final Weeks at the Wallace Collection

The Wallace Collection in London, long celebrated for its Rococo treasures and Old Masters, opened its doors earlier this year to a bold new chapter with Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur.  Now still running until 26 October 2025, there are a few weeks left to visit this exhibition which has been billed as the museum’s largest contemporary show to date, and it more than lives up to the claim.

Bringing together more than 40 newly created works, the exhibition demonstrates Perry’s enduring fascination with craft, narrative and social commentary. Visitors will encounter an eclectic mix of ceramics, textiles, tapestries and works on paper, 

Bringing together over 40 newly created works, the exhibition demonstrates Perry’s enduring fascination with craft, narrative and social commentary. Visitors encounter an eclectic mix of ceramics, textiles, tapestries and works on paper, as well as a wallpaper (in collaboration with Liberty) - many of which are threaded through with the artist’s mischievous alter ego, Shirley Smith. These playful yet incisive pieces are displayed in dialogue with the museum’s permanent collection, offering fresh interpretations of the Rococo opulence that has long defined the Wallace.

“It’s about walking into a palace of grandeur and then asking—what is really grand?” Perry explains with a grin. “I love Rococo because it’s decorative, it’s excessive, and people dismiss it as frivolous. That makes it the perfect playground for me.”

These playful yet incisive pieces are displayed in dialogue with the museum’s permanent collection, offering fresh interpretations of the Rococo opulence that has long defined the Wallace.  One notable example is François Boucher’s celebrated Madame de Pompadour (1759), an oil on canvas from the Wallace Collection, to which Perry has responded with his own work, Hospital Queen, created in embroidery and mixed media.  

Dr. Helen Jacobsen, Senior Curator at the Wallace Collection, the collaboration has brought a fresh perspective to the museum’s permanent holdings. “Grayson has a rare ability to tease out the spirit of our collection without reverence,” she says. “He has allowed Boucher, Fragonard and Watteau to sit in conversation with his own work—and in doing so, he makes the Wallace feel alive in new ways.”

At its heart, Delusions of Grandeur interrogates ideas of making and authenticity. Meticulously crafted objects, often requiring hundreds if not thousands of hours to produce, are positioned alongside works created with the click of a mouse. 

The juxtapositions invite questions about value, time and the role of the artist in an age where technology increasingly blurs the line between tradition and innovation. Perry does not offer neat answers, but rather provokes reflection on our collective drive for perfection and the nature of artistic labour.

The show also ventures into the realm of ‘outsider art’. Works by Aloïse Corbaz and Madge Gill—visionary figures who pursued their creative practices outside conventional art circles—find resonance within Perry’s own personal and artistic journey. The inclusion of Gill is particularly poignant: she exhibited at the Wallace Collection in 1942, a discovery that inspired Perry to weave her story into his own exploration of art, childhood and belonging.

Marking his 65th birthday, Perry uses the exhibition to reflect on the wider culture of collecting and the often-overlooked politics of decoration. With characteristic wit and sharpness, he challenges traditional hierarchies, asking viewers to reconsider where value lies—whether in the gilded excess of Rococo or in the irreverent, handcrafted exuberance of his own practice.

For all its intellectual weight, the exhibition is anything but austere. Perry’s signature humour and theatricality animate the galleries, ensuring the experience is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. Visitors are likely to leave not only with a deeper appreciation of the complexities of craft and authenticity, but also with the sense that they have glimpsed something of Perry’s own playful, restless imagination.

Delusions of Grandeur stands as a landmark exhibition—one that reframes the dialogue between past and present, tradition and experimentation, seriousness and satire. It is, above all, a testament to Sir Grayson Perry’s place as one of Britain’s most intriquing artistic voices.

Photos by Lucia Carpio

What will be the true meaning of luxury post-Covid-19 crisis?

After the Covid-19 crisis is finally over, will many of us realise that the real luxuries in life are ways to maintain good health, to have love and compassion for fellow humans? And will all material luxuries that we own, used to own or yearn to possess become just collections put on display in museums and galleries?

Content Editor Lucia Carpio visited The Wallace Collection, London in June 2019.

The Wallace Collection in London is housed at Hertford House in Manchester Square, a stone’s throw from Oxford Street and a few steps from Selfridges.  In this townhouse, a former home of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford (was open to public until the lockdown), in its 30 galleries was an extensive collection of fine and decorative arts from the 15^th to the 19^th centuries, including a prized collection of French 18^th century paintings, and ornate furniture of the time, arms and armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings.

Shoes – Remember them? Let’s reminisce on Manolo Blahnik’s memorable exhibition at The Wallace Collection

Got sad news today that iconic Italian shoe designer Sergio Rossi has died at age 84.  Announced in a statement by Rossi’s son Gianvito, the shoemaker contracted Covid-19 and had been hospitalised in Cesena, Italy.  May he rest in peace.

No doubt we are all in it together.  When news of fatalities hit home, we can't help but think about how fragile humans are and the world that we have known will never be the same again.

With lockdown still in place, and all manner of public spaces shut in the UK and many countries around the world,  I try to remember when was the last time I could put on a pair of beautiful shoes to go out, except for my trainers to go for a little walk near our home.  Even before the lockdown, busy modern life required us to go for everyday comfort and convenience, thus trainers or sneakers along with Chelsea boots or bikers had been the norm of the day.

Here’s one of the memorable exhibitions I had visited in 2019 at The Wallace Collection in London.  In An Engaging Mind, celebrated shoe designer Manolo Blahnik who understands femininity, luxury and attention to detail had put on display more than 100 of his beautiful ladies' footwear spanning a 50-year career.  He said he has been immensely inspired over the years by the gallery’s collection of paintings, furniture and porcelain.  Adorned with flowers and ribbons, some of the designs were possibly inspired by gardens and sunny garden rooms.

Blahnik’s greatest shoes were intimately on display alongside and amongst the masterpieces of The Wallace Collection, inside bell-shaped jars, illustrating them as objects of desire to be admired. 

The Wallace Collection, comprising an extensive collection of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries with important holdings of French 18th century paintings, furniture, arms and armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings arranged into 30 galleries, is housed at Hertford House in Manchester Square, London, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford.

The galleries of unrivalled 18th century collections form a sympathetic backdrop for a carefully curated selection of Manolo Blahnik's exquisite shoes.  Note the intricate detailing, laces, appliques, sequins and diamentes.  The feminine touches are testiment that the designer understands how to entice women.

Photos by Lucia Carpio, at The Wallace Collection, London, UK, June 2019.