The Wellcome Collection is a museum at 183 Euston Road

Euston Road

Euston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, displaying an unusual mixture of medical artifacts and original artworks exploring 'ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art'. The Collection comprises three public exhibition spaces, an auditorium, events space, cafe and bookshop. The building is also the home of the Wellcome Library

Wellcome Library

The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome , whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of medicine in a broad sense and included subjects like alchemy or...

 and The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

History

The Wellcome Trust was founded by Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853–1936). An extensive and enthusiastic traveller, he amassed a huge collection of books, paintings and objects, on the theme of historical development of medicine worldwide. There was an earlier Wellcome Historical Medical Museum at 54a Wigmore Street

Wigmore Street

Wigmore Street is a street in the City of Westminster, in the West End of London, England. The street runs for about 600 yards parallel and to the north of Oxford Street between Portman Square to the west and Cavendish Square to the east....

, housing artifacts from around the world .

The Wellcome Trust

Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 as an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health. With an endowment of around £13.9 billion, it is the United Kingdom's largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research...

 moved its administrative offices into their new Gibbs Building (designed for the Trust by Michael Hopkins and Partners) on the adjoining site in Euston Road, completed 2004: thereby creating an opportunity for a new public venue in the old Wellcome Building. The Collection opened to the public in June 2007.

The collections

Medicine Man
A permanent display of a small part of Henry Wellcome's collection.

Medicine Now
A permanent exhibition using art, mixed media displays and objects to present some aspects of modern medicine and of the work of the Wellcome Trust.
This area features a postcard wall where visitors are encouraged to contribute drawings.

Exhibition space
A changing programme of events and exhibitions.

The building foyer includes works by Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...

 (originally on a wall in John Desmond Bernal's flat in Torrington Square

Torrington Square

Torrington Square is a square in Bloomsbury, owned by the University of London, located in central London, England. Today it is a square in name only, most of the houses having been demolished by the university. Birkbeck College and the School of Oriental and African Studies are located here. To...

)) and Anthony Gormley. A figure by Marc Quinn

Marc Quinn

Marc Quinn is a British artist and part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs . He is known for Alison Lapper Pregnant , Self , and Garden .He is one of the Young British...

 is displayed next to the entrance, originally lying unprotected on the stone floor, but now inside a glass case.

Wellcome Library

The Wellcome Library

Wellcome Library

The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome , whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of medicine in a broad sense and included subjects like alchemy or...

 provides access to collections of books, manuscripts, archives, films and pictures on the history of medicine from the earliest times to the present day

External links

• Wellcome Collection website
• Wellcome Collection blog
• Wellcome Images
• Surgery Live, a Wellcome Collection collaboration with Channel 4
  Channel 4
  Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...