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Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum

Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum Worcester WR1 1DT

http://www.worcestercitymuseums.org.uk/mag/magind.htm

Founded in 1833 by members of the Worcestershire Natural History Society, Worcester claims to be one of the oldest museums in the country. The current gallery building was opened to the public in 1896 as part of a gallery and library complex.

The historic collection focuses on landscape painting from the 19th-century with a number of works by local artists including the renowned Benjamin Williams
Leader.

The gallery’s collection of 20th-century painting covers a broad range of subject matter, including work by Stanhope Forbes, Laura Knight, Charles Ginner, Bernard Meninsky, Alan Davie and Duncan Grant.

The contemporary collection continues the historical focus on landscape painting, exploring ideas of landscape in works by Paul Noble, Fiona Crisp, Willie Doherty, Richard Billingham, James Island and Heather and Ivan Morison.

Since the 1960s the gallery has focused on collecting
contemporary prints as a means to expand the collection and introduce the work of living artists to the collection. Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum hosts a number of temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

Guest editor’s note:
If you are interested in contemporary art collections, as we are, Worcester's collection includes thirty or so works produced by internationally significant artists, amongst them Heather and Ivan Morison and Paul Seawright.

The collection explores the relationship between the urban and rural landscape and the tensions and possibilities where the two overlap. Viewing of work that are not on show in the gallery can be arranged with prior notice.

If you are arriving at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum by train then MOVEMENT, artist-led gallery and project space is worth a visit. Commissioning new projects by artists working internationally, MOVEMENT opens on Platform 2 of Forgate Street Station, from Spring/Summer 2010.

Reviewed by:Yoke and Zoom (of MOVEMENT)