Collection: Wolverhampton Arts & Culture

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Wolverhampton Art Gallery

  Wolverhampton Art Gallery was funded and built by local contractor Philip Horsman from designs by Birmingham architect Julius Chatwin; the Gallery opened in May 1884. A Grade II* Listed building, the sculptural frieze on the outside features 16 characters each representing an element of arts and crafts, from painting and pottery to architecture and metalworking. Science is also represented. The School Of Art, built to the rear of the new building, was opened at the same time and has since been incorporated into the gallery.

  The art collection quickly grew in size and reputation thanks to early donations by several leading local figures, including industrialist Sidney Cartwright, Philip Horsman, Paul Lutz, James Beattie and others (totalling some 50 paintings). The Jones Brothers also gave £1,000 for acquisitions. A few years later Mrs Marie Christian Cartwright bequeathed the collection of about 275 paintings that she and her husband, Sidney, had accumulated over the years. Other early acquisitions included a collection of material from the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A), including Elkington electrotypes, probably thanks to George Wallis, who was born in Wolverhampton and became the first Keeper of Fine Art at the South Kensington Museum.

  Charles Whibley’s review of the gallery for the Magazine of Art in December 1887, mentions that there were some works by modern artists and some genre paintings, but the collection was particularly strong in the art of forty years ago – when British art was uncompromisingly British and “untouched by foreign influence” – and therefore contained many wonderful landscapes. This Georgian collection was later greatly augmented in the 1970s, with the support of the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, to include works by Gainsborough, Zoffany, Fuseli, Joseph Wright and others.

  The gallery also has a strong collection of 20th century art, including paintings by Lichtenstein and Warhol and much pop art, based on a forward looking acquisition policy in the 1960s. This was further boosted by the acquisition of the Twentyman Collection in 1991, again with the support of the MGCV&A Purchase Grant Fund. Twentyman was an important figure in Wolverhampton as president of the Society of Artists for many years, a successful sculptor and a great collector of British twentieth century art. The core of the collection is an important group of paintings, drawings and, unusually, ceramics by John Piper, who was a friend of Twentyman. With these works came an archive of letters between the two, now held at Wolverhampton Archives. Other highlights include significant artworks by members of the St Ives School such as Patrick Heron, Ben Nicholson and Graham Sutherland.

  A new extension in 2007 included a dedicated Pop Art gallery and additional space for special exhibitions, while the Victorian Gallery was refurbished in 2009. The ‘Touring 3’ exhibition space was up-graded in 2018 meaning that we now have a larger space for touring exhibitions. A capital project is taking place in 2020 which will see improvements to the entrance and re-location of the cafe downstairs.

  Bantock House & Park

  Bantock House Museum was once the Wolverhampton home of first Thomas and Mary Bantock and then their son and his wife, Baldwin and Kitty Bantock. Thomas became Mayor of Wolverhampton, as did his son, Baldwin, who left the property to his wife, Kitty, when he died in 1938, on the understanding that she bequeathed it to the town. She outlived him by 16 years, yet generously gave the house and park to Wolverhampton in 1938. Having been a base for the local Home Guard during World War Il, come peacetime, Wolverhampton Corporation turned the property into a museum and branch library, and the newly named Bantock House Museum opened in April 1948.

  The museum contained a good display of dolls and a very important collection of japanned and enamel ware. The house, its outbuildings and gardens continued as a somewhat quiet backwater until the 1990s when the house, outbuildings and gardens were extensively and expensively restored, with Lottery money. It reopened in 1999 as a museum of Edwardian life and local history.

  In the house the ground floor is much as it was when Bantock had finished his refurbishment of the house, with an entrance hall large enough to double as a sitting room (an arrangement much beloved of Arts and Crafts architects), a dining room and a drawing room – the Garden Room. The collections in these rooms are intended to give an excellent impression of an Edwardian gentleman’s house and contain curtains and furniture donated by the Friends of Bantock House.

  The upper floors are more museological in feel and contain collections of English porcelain and ceramics, Wolverhampton products, such as japanned ware, enamels and steel jewelry and a collection of children’s toys and dolls. There is also a more recently restored Billiards Room, which includes exhibits about the men of Wolverhampton, who might have used the room, and the industrial history of the city.

  The cafe was extended and improved in 2019 and now connects to the main house.

  Bilston Museum and Gallery

  Originally a family home built during the Edwardian period, Bilston Gallery and Museum opened in 1937 and is shared with the Libraries service who operate a branch library at the site. In the late 1990s the gallery was re-branded and the focus for the exhibitions was contemporary craft, drawing on the rich history of the area manufacturing enamels. The enamels are still a great source of local pride among local Bilstonians and a new semipermanent display explores the link between art and industry in the region. The Bilston mayoral regalia is also displayed. In 2015 the ACE funded contemporary craft programme was moved to the Art Gallery. The displays at Bilston Craft Gallery now focus more heavily on the local industrial history and geology of the area.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2019

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  FINE ART

  18th Century British Oil Painting

  The Service holds a collection of Georgian paintings which features several works of the highest quality including examples by Gainsborough, Zoffany, Fuseli, Richard Wilson, Joseph Highmore (his finest surviving family portrait), Francis Wheatley, Wright of Derby and Raeburn. The collection also includes a number of works by Edward Bird RA, a local artist who rose to prominence as a court painter. We have recently been given, on long term loan, a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, of a female member of the local Bagot family.

  19th Century British Painting and Sculpture

  The Service’s holding of 19th century pictures is especially strong in domestic ‘genre’ paintings and its collection of works by the Cranbrook Colony of painters is the finest in the UK. This is the most important asset within our historical collections and its continued development should be seen as a high priority. The Cranbrook collection, apart from being of immense educational and recreational value, has the highest income generation potential (from reproduction fees and royalties) of any part of the permanent collection.

  18th and 19th Century Works on Paper

  The collection includes fine work by Turner, Sandby, De Wint, Varley and others, but lacks examples of Grand Tour topography, which was influential in British art of this period.

  Modern British Painting, Sculpture and Works on Paper

  This aspect of the collection has been significantly improved by strategic purchasing since the mid 1970s. The aim has been to represent major influences and trends in British figurative painting and sculpture from between the Wars with a focus on artists associated with Unit One and the Surrealist movement. Acquisitions have included major works by Paul Nash, Wadsworth, Hillier, Spender, Armstrong, Bigge, Banting, Trevelyan and Sir Roland Penrose. This is rapidly becoming one of the best collections of its kind in the region, and with selected future purchases could achieve national importance.

  The Twentyman Collection – Works by John Piper and Others

  The acquisition of this major collection which includes an important group of paintings, drawings and ceramics by John Piper, has enhanced our holdings of post-war British paintings (hitherto very weak) and bridged the gap between the late 1940s and the Pop collection of the 1960s. The Twentyman collection features significant works by members of the St Ives School, such as Patrick Heron, Patrick Hayman, W B Graham and Ben Nicholson and a small work by Graham Sutherland.

  It forms the basis for development of a representative collection of post-war British Romantic painting.

  British and American Pop Art

  In 1970, a renewed emphasis was placed on the purchase of contemporary art, particularly items associated with the Pop Art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Works by American as well as British artists were acquired and by 1980, Wolverhampton Art Gallery had won national recognition for the quality of its collecting in the contemporary field – a vindication for this strong but often controversial element of the collecting policy.

  This is the finest regional collection of its kind in the UK and includes work by Lichtenstein, Warhol, Lindner, Rivers, Hamilton, Blake, and Rosenquist. Its educational value is immense, especially in cross-curricular projects. In 2007 a dedicated gallery for this collection formed opened as part of the extension. Through these displays we have been able to present an insight into the art, music, politics, literature and popular culture of 1960s and 70s Britain and the Us.

  In 2011 we were recipients of the Eric and Jean Cass gift via the Contemporary Art Society. This includes a number of works by significant 20th century artists associated with the British and European Pop and Op Art movements including Allen Jones, Karel Appel and Victor Vasarely. This is an important development for our collection and will form a key part of our programming and research strategy. Recently important paintings by Gerald Laing and Pauline Boty were added to the collection.

  Contemporary British Painting, Sculpture, Works on Paper, Photographic Works, Video, Digital Media and Contemporary Craft

  The Service continues to prioritise the development of the contemporary British art collection. Important works were added in the 1980s by artists such as Ana Maria Pacheco, John Bellany, Adrian Wiszniewski, Jock McFadyen, Gavin Jantjes, Gilbert and George, Conrad Atkinson, and Eileen Cooper. The themes of social and political conflict, first addressed by artists of the Pop era, continue to be of particular interest. To this end the Service has also acquired work by international artists whose work deals with the areas of the world where British foreign policy has impacted. The Service has also acknowledged the importance of acquiring works by women artists, often less well represented than their male counterparts, through the acquisition of works by Jan Haworth, Usha Parmar, Shani Rhys James, Rita Duffy and May Cornet. The Service seeks to reflect the diversity of our local population, which has a high number of Asian and African Caribbean such as Eugene Palmer. Wolverhampton Art Gallery is part of a network of a West Midlands Curatorial Network of curators who are committed to showing contemporary art. The profile of the region has been raised over the past few years with the creation of new gallery buildings for Walsall Art Gallery and Ikon Gallery and Wolverhampton Art Gallery has an important role to play in this regeneration of contemporary art in the West Midlands.

  The contemporary collection is an increasingly important educational asset, not just for Wolverhampton, but for the region as a whole. The Service’s participation in the first Contemporary Art Society (CAS) / Arts Council of England (ACE) Collection Scheme, 1993 – 96, enhanced the status of the collection. The foundations were laid for the creation of a contemporary art collection of national importance. The Service then participated in the CAS Special Collection Scheme,(1999 – 2005) with funds from the National Lottery positioning the Gallery as one of the leading centres for the study and enjoyment of contemporary work in the UK with collections equalled only by the national museums. In tandem with the extension to the Gallery premises in 2007, the establishment of a nationally important collection of contemporary art has helped to determine a positive role and identity for the Service for the first quarter of the 21st Century. To this end, the continued improvement of this collection should be seen as the main priority within the Collection strategy as a whole.

  The works acquired under the first CAs I ACE Collection Scheme with assistance from the Museums and Galleries Commission, included major examples by David Mach, Helen Chadwick, Paul Graham, Willie Doherty, Tony Bevan, Lisa Milroy and Suzanne Treister. To give the acquisitions a coherent theme we developed an existing strength acquiring works which, in some way, reflected social, ethical and environmental aspects of life in modern Britain, within a global context. This has given the Service a focused collection that demonstrates the capacity of art to be a relevant and powerful voice in today’s society addressing everyday issues of war, race, gender, civil liberties and national identity. It is particularly rich as a resource for the National Curriculum.

  The CAS Special Collection Scheme enabled us to further develop this theme with acquisitions by Tom Hunter, Breda Beban, Rut Blees Luxembourg, Richard Billingham, David Rayson, Chad McCail, Ross Sinclair, Simon Norfolk, Paul Seawright, Siobhan Hapaska and Jeremy Deller. Future acquisitions should continue this general theme and follow through the exciting developments already in place.

  The Service has recently been developing its holdings of artists’ film and video with works by Cornford & Cross, Breda Beban, Joonho Jeon, Willie Doherty and Seamus Harahan. The Gallery won the CAS Commission to Collect Award in 2010, alongside the Hepworth Wakefield. This resulted in a new commissioned work by Luke Fowler in 2012. There is an opportunity for the Service to build a reputation in this area to lead the way in terms of best practice in collecting moving image based works.

  The Service also holds work by artists who grew up or were trained in Wolverhampton as well as work that deals with the landscape and people of Wolverhampton and the wider Black Country such as David Rayson. The Service should continue to collect work by local artists where there work fits in with other priorities for collecting.

  Artists of the British Black Art Movement

  Wolverhampton Art Gallery is committed to building its collection of work by Black British artists and our vision is to become a recognised centre for Black Art collecting and research. In 2014 we were awarded £183,000 funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund through their Collecting Cultures strand to acquire work by artists associated with the Black Art Group of the 1980s. This project concluded in February 2017 and the collection of 16 works acquired through the scheme has formed a solid foundation on which we can build a collection for future generations. From the outset there has been an intention to make the Black art movement a focus for long-term strategic collecting due to the link between the original BLK Group and the city. It is of particular pertinence to local communities given the ethnic diversity of the city and region’s history of immigration.

  The city of Wolverhampton played a significant role in the emergence of the Black Art Movement. The Art Gallery hosted ‘Black Art ‘N Done’, the first exhibition of the BLK Group in 1981, which included work by Keith Piper and Eddie Chambers, from which the British Black Art Movement emerged. This was followed by the first National Black Art Convention at Wolverhampton Polytechnic (now the University of Wolverhampton) in 1982. These two events spawned a new wave of black art which reflected the social and political issues experienced by a generation of black British individuals whose parents arrived here during the Windrush era.

  Before the Heritage Lottery Fund Black Art collecting project started in 2014, the Gallery already had a few holdings of work by Black and Asian artists including Gavin Jantjes,Eugene Palmer, Sylbert Bolton, Usha Palmer and May Cornet. The collection was enhanced significantly by the acquisition of works though the HLF Black Art project. We now have examples of work by most of the early members of the Black Art group and those associated with it. These include Keith Piper, Claudette Johnson, Donald Rodney, Lubaina Himid, Sonia Boyce, Barbara Walker Kimathi Donkor, Tam Joseph and Chila Burman. We have made our first acquisition of work by a Black American artist, Glen Ligon, which gives a transatlantic perspective on the movement. To further develop the collection we have added other major Black artists of the next generation. Our most recent acquisition is ‘Running Thunder’ and early film by Steve McQueen awarded bv the Contemporary Art Society through their ‘Great Works’ strand.

  In 2018 we acquired our first work by Yinka Shonibare ‘Earth’, with support from Art Fund, V&A PGF, CAS and the Friends of Wolverhampton Arts and Museums. In 2019 jointly acquired a major work by the artist ‘End of Empire’ with Bristol Museums. This was one of the 1418 NOW WW1 commissions.

  The Northern Ireland Collection

  There is a nationally important collection on the theme of the conflict in Northern Ireland, the foundations of which were laid in the 1980s. Wolverhampton Art Gallery curated a ground-breaking exhibition in 1994, to co-incide with the IRA ceasefire of that time and has since built a reputation for tackling issues in Northem Ireland. The collection is the only regional collection of its kind with only the Imperial War Museum and the Arts Council,Northern Ireland collection coming close in comparison, The collection includes work by Conrad Atkinson, Jock McFadyen, Willie Doherty, Paul Graham, Anthony Davies, John Keane, Terry Atkinson and John Kindness. The award of an HLF grant in 2009, through Collecting Cultures, has enabled us to develop the collection further, adding works by Paul Seawright, Victor Sloane, Sean Hillen, Anthony Haughey, and Locky Morris.

  Contemporary Craft

  Through the Service’s contemporary craft exhibition and education programme focussed at Bilston Museum and Gallery a small number of high quality contemporary craft objects have been acquired since 2000. Many of these are commissions enabled as part of particular exhibition projects and have specific links to the local history or decorative art collections such as metalsmith John Grayson’s three enamel boxes A trifle from Bilston which relate to an historic Georgian enamel box with this phrase inscribed on the lid. The historic and contemporary works are shown in proximity to one another. Others such as Junko Mori’s forged steel work Lichen Petals, purchased with the support of the Art Fund, provide a contemporary perspective on the heritage of skilled manufacturing in the local area – in this case steel which was produced in Bilston on a huge scale into the 1970s. The Service will continue to acquire on occasion exceptional works of contemporary craft that show current skill and innovation and illuminate objects or related themes in its local history or decorative arts collections. The ability to display these acquisitions or make them otherwise readily accessible to the public will be an important criterion. Bilston Museum and Gallery also has a handling collection of contemporary craft items acquired to support the engagement and participation of the public with the Gallery’s programme. This is recorded and managed according to the Service’s policy for handling objects, ie. clearly designated and with lower expectations for preservation and conservation standards.

  DECORATIVE ART

  18th Century English Enamels

  Outside the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Wolverhampton has the finest collection of enamels in the country with examples of Bilston, Birmingham, South Staffordshire, Battersea and Liverpool manufacture. It is a collection of regional and international significance and a source of great local pride. The collection includes outstanding examples of the enamellers’ craft and important documentary objects, as well as a range of snuff patch boxes, pill boxes, tea-caddies, candlesticks and so on, which illustrate the variety of objects made and mirrors the fashionable society for which they were produced.

  The collection has been acquired chiefly through the Bantock Bequest, through the purchase of large collections by both Wolverhampton Art Gallery & Museum and Bilston Museum & Art Gallery prior to the boundary changes in 1966, and more recently by purchase at auction.

  18th and 19th Century Japanned Ware of the West Midlands

  Wolverhampton was a leading centre for the craft of japanning – the application of thick varnish as both protection and a base for spectacular decoration to tin, iron, papier mache and wood. The collection enjoys strong regional significance, as well as wider repute both nationaly and internationally. It came to the Service largely by way of gifts from manufacturers and their descendants, and those employed in the industry. Since the 1970s the Service has pursued an active acquisitions policy and so raised the profile of the collection to become a major resource for the study of such wares. We should therefore continue to develop the collection with a view to making it fully representative of this important Midlands industry.

  Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, which has a good but smaller collection, does not actively seek to acquire objects in this field.

  To complement our holding, a small number of objects are on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and from private collections.

  We will support the Local History & Archives department in the acquisition of photographs or other printed images of workpeople, workshops, tools, products etc. relevant to the industry and recognise the local History & Heritage Society’s research in this area.

  Dolls and Toys,1780-1950 (CLOSED)

  The doll collection, largely acquired in 1952 through the gift of Miss Daisy Mander, divides into three groups: historical European dolls, dolls in national and regional costumes and ethnographic dolls. A collection of toys and objects associated with the education of children, was begun in the 1970s and has been acquired almost entirely by way of gifts.

  The collection has rich educational use as an illustration of childhood at different periods, especially in the context of Bantock House, and for educational sessions focusing on costume, mechanics and materials. The ethnographic and national dolls are also a useful resource for sessions on geography, citizenship and cultural diversity.

  18th and 19th Century Ceramics (CLOSED)

  A small representative collection covering the history of the English ceramic industry from the Industrial Revolution to the late 19th century and ranging from highly sophisticated porcelain, to lively, cheaply produced cottage ornaments. It includes a small but fine collection of 1st Period Worcester porcelain (1751-80) bequeathed by Alderman and Mrs AB Bantock and representative pieces from most major English factories: Bow, Chelsea, Caughley, Wedgwood, Spode, Derby, Coalport, Barr, Flight & Barr and others.

  The collection has been acquired partly through gifts and bequest and partly through the purchase of a small but good collection of late 18th/early 19th century English pottery for Bilston Museum in the 1950s. It is particularly useful in the context of Bantock House.

  Asian Decorative Art (CLOSED)

  The collection includes Japanese and Chinese material and a small range of Indian and Middle Eastern objects, comprising: lacquer, swords and sword furniture, carved ivories and bronzes; ceramics, carved ivories, soapstone and jade and bronze figures and vessels and includes a small number of outstanding items.

  The collection has been acquired through gifts, including several from the Bantock family, and was mostly collected in the early 20th century. It has strong educational potential, particularly in the context of the history of Bantock House. Although this collection is closed, we seek to increase it’s diversity and will accept items in exceptional circumstances which are of particular significance to our local communities.

  EIkington Plate and Fictile Ivories (CLOSED)

  A collection of reproductions of previous metalwork and ivories from historic European collections. Such reproductions were commissioned by the Department of Science and Education to advance ‘the progress of art’, by use in schools of art and display in museums. It was acquired in the 188Os and stands as a useful collection in its own right, as a supporting collection and as an educational resource.

  19th/early 20th Century Costume (CLOSED)

  As a result of the fine skills employed in making christening robes, bonnets and underwear and sentiment for those who wore them, such garments have been donated in large numbers to museums throughout the country. Wolverhampton’s collection was no exception and included much so-called ‘whiteware’ and miscellaneous pieces of 19th and 20th century costume.

  Given the specialist display and storage requirements of such a collection, unavailable at Wolverhampton, we have transferred the collection to Walsall Museum, except for five items to be used as handling objects in educational sessions.

  18th and 19th Century Glass (CLOSED)

  A small collection acquired by various gifts over a number of years. While it includes several attractive pieces, it is too disparate a group to display in its entirety, especially with a major collection so close bv at Broadfield House. Kinaswinford. Individual pieces are useful in connection with the enamel displays.

  Mediterranean Ceramics and Other Archaeological material (CLOSED)

  Along with many museums earlier this century, Wolverhampton benefited from the generosity of the Brassey family whose archaeological explorations to many parts of the world led them to form collections of material from the various sites they visited. Other gifts have enhanced the collection which includes small groups of Egyptian artefacts, Roman domestic pottery and glass, and a larger group of Cypriot pottery which recently formed the subject of a scholarly paper.

  Although not sufficiently comprehensive or rich enough to display, the collection nevertheless includes some good examples. It is a useful educational resource and it is only in this context that the non-local material is retained.

  LOCAL HISTORY

  The local history collections currently comprise:

  • locks and keys
  • cut steel
  • printed ephemera
  • photographs
  • post-medieval archaeology
  • decorative and architectural metalwork
  • commercial vitreous enamelling.
  • Miscellaneous

  During the first 80 years of the Service’s history, and in accordance with its stated aims, attention was focused upon the acquisitions of decorative products manufactured in the region, enamels, japanned ware, cut steel and so on. We aim to build on these strengths in future collecting, especially for the displays at Bantock House. We are currently working with the Black Country Museum Services to develop a strategic regional approach to collecting local Black Country history.

  Local History collecting will be informed by, and complement, that of Wolverhampton Archives whose collecting policy outlines its statutory obligations and the acquisition of material relating to the history of Wolverhampton. It also identifies communities whose archives are currently underrepresented as a focus for collecting activity.

  Through generous gifts and the Bantock Bequest in 1941, the Service has good collections of local photographs and printed ephemera, which dovetail together with those held by the Archives & Local Studies.

  We will support Archives & Local Studies in their collecting and aim to bring the two collections closer together.

  GEOLOGY

  The Fraser Collection (CLOSED)

  Dr Fraser, president of the Dudley and Midlands Geological and Scientific Society, and medical practitioner in Wolverhampton, bequeathed his collection of geological specimens in 1911. It includes about 7,000 specimens and is almost entirely composed of British fossils, representing main groups though most stages of geological history; many specimens are of excellent quality and come from localities which no longer exist. It is consequently a rich educational resource.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2019

  Licence: CC BY-NC