Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery

http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/default.asp?Document=200.21

The nucleus of this collection was established with a gift of paintings from the East Anglian Art Society to the city in 1894. Thanks to this bequest, the Norwich Museum, then located in the city centre, moved to Norwich Castle, where for the first time an art gallery existed alongside the display of other collections held by the museum.

The gallery holds the most comprehensive collection of paintings by the Norwich School of Artists in the UK, including works by John Crome and John Sell Cotman.

There is a selection of British, Dutch and Flemish landscape paintings and a number of Rembrandt etchings.

The modern collection is relatively small but covers a range of different movements with notable works by Alfred Sisley, George Clausen, Gwen John, Walter Sickert and David Bomberg. The contemporary collection has an emphasis towards the region and artists who have taught at the Norwich School of Art.

Only a selection of the permanent collection is on display at any one time. The temporary exhibition programme continues to be a priority for the gallery.

Guest editor’s note:
The myriad objects held within the Norwich Castle Museum representing the gamut of human creative endeavour — ranging from dioramas of animals’ environments to a collection of teapots — never ceases to amaze me. Every time I visit I know I’m going to find, and learn, something new.

Reviewed by: Kaavous Clayton