Saved for Ever
Treasured items are Saved for Ever
at the Victoria Art Gallery
August 2011
A vast collection of exquisite art which has
been donated to Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Victoria
Art Gallery will be celebrated for all to enjoy this autumn.
Saved for Ever, which runs from 8 October
until 27 November 2011, tells the story of how many generous people
have bequeathed wonderful works of art to the Council-run gallery
for residents of Bath and North East Somerset to enjoy in
perpetuity.
The exhibition shows how by collecting and
displaying top quality works, the Victoria Art Gallery gives people
access to art of a calibre that few can have in their
homes. This makes the Gallery an important educational
resource as it allows great art to be appreciated by everyone, free
of charge.
Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib-Dem, Combe Down),
Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: “Bath & North
East Somerset Council holds this public collection in trust for all
our residents. We are able to share these gems thanks to the
contribution of hundreds of people who generously donated works of
art to the Victoria Art Gallery.
“It is a mark of the distinctiveness of Bath
and North East Somerset that many of the most loved pictures on
display once hung in the homes of local people. These individuals
gave their paintings to the Gallery so that they could be enjoyed
by the public forever. This exhibition is an opportunity for us to
acknowledge their generosity and thank them for their public
spiritedness.”
Saved for Ever reveals the fascinating story
of how the Victoria Art Gallery looks after works of art, and how
paintings conservation restores damaged works to their former glory
– making them fit to go on public display. It also highlights the
important contribution made by local people to this nowadays
through the Adopt a Picture scheme.
One of the benefactors, Alice Dorothea
Henderson, wrote to the Victoria Art Gallery from her home in Bath
in February 1946 to say: “I feel so pleased and happy knowing that
the things I live with will be housed and cared for in such a
lively art gallery and beautiful old city.” Her gifts included
Watersplash by Henry La Thangue – the most popular picture in the
Gallery.
The exhibition includes other old favourites
donated many years ago, such as George Frampton’s gorgeous painted
firescreen depicting St Dorothea and St Elizabeth, as well as
Gainsborough’s portrait of Captain William Wade.
It also celebrates recent donations such as a
work by Paul Klee, one of only a handful in the country by this
great artist, and also a fabulous collection of jewel-like coloured
wine glasses, recently bequeathed to the Victoria Art Gallery and
never before on public display.
A new 72-page guidebook, Victoria Art Gallery
Highlights – featuring many of the works in Saved for Ever – is
being launched to coincide with the display and will be on sale in
the Victoria Art Gallery for £4.95.
The exhibition also reveals the contribution
of funding bodies such as the Art Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund.
It is through their generosity and support that the Gallery is able
to raise money to buy top quality works of art.
The Victoria Art Gallery, near Pulteney Bridge
in Bath, is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sundays 1.30pm to
5pm and closed on Mondays. Admission is free. For more details call
01225 477233 or visit the Gallery’s website http://www.victoriagal.org.uk/.
ENDS