Beecroft Art Gallery is a

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, Essex, England. Prior to 2014, the gallery was formerly located in and Edwardian building on Station Road at

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

which was donated to the people of

in 1952 by Walter Beecroft (1885–1961) to house his eclectic collection of art works. Walter Beecroft was a solicitor in nearby

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

. He had already set up an Art Gallery Sub-Committee of the Public Libraries & Museum Committee in 1928, and in 1947 he proposed to endow a building to become and Art Gallery. Eventually, this led to the Beecroft Art Gallery on Station Road. Beecroft also endowed the Beecroft Bequest, an art purchase fund administered by the

Museums Association The Museums Association (MA) is a professional membership organisation based in London for museum, gallery and heritage professionals, museums, galleries and heritage organisations, and companies that work in the museum, gallery and heritage s ...

. The gallery was resited in 2014 to the former home of the Central Library on Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea.

Art collections

Beecroft Art Gallery has a permanent collection of over 2,000 works, ranging from 17th-century Dutch paintings to contemporary works. The collection includes examples by artists such as Molenaer, Ruisdael and Berchem plus 19th-century artists including

Rossetti The House of Rossetti is an Italian noble, and Boyar Princely family appearing in the 14th-15th century, originating among the patrician families, during the Republic of Genoa, with branches of the family establishing themselves in the Kingdom o ...

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

and

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

. There are works by Carel Weight, the Great Bardfield Group, and a fine bronze by

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produc ...

. The local artist

Alan Sorrell Alan Ernest Sorrell (11 February 1904 – 21 December 1974) was an English artist and writer best remembered for his archaeological illustrations, particularly his detailed reconstructions of Roman Britain. He was a Senior Assistant Instructo ...

is represented by his ''Drawings of Nubia'' series depicting a visit to Egypt prior to the building of the

Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan L ...

. The Thorpe Smith Collection of local landscape views contains paintings, drawings and prints from as early as 1803. Local views and seascapes include: ''Afternoon, Hadleigh'' by George Shalders; ''At Leigh, Essex'' by Gustav de Breanski (c.1880–1890); ''Boats at Leigh'' by Sheila Appleton (1982); ''Chalkwell Bay from Belton Hills, Leigh'' by H. G. Allnutt; ''Cliff Parade, Leigh on Sea'' by Arthur H. Taylor; ''Crowstone Beach'' by Alfred Harvey Moore; ''Evening oyster boat off Southend Pier'' by

William Calcott Knell William Calcott Knell (1830–1880) was a British painter of maritime subjects. Life He was the son of William Adolphus Knell (1801-1875), who also worked as a marine painter. The influence of his father is evident in the composition and execu ...

(1867); and ''Leigh, Essex'' by Charles Fisher (1878).

Fashion and textiles collection

Southend Museums Service has been acquiring historical fashion as part of its social history collection since opening in the 1970s. The collections have subsequently been re-housed at the Beecroft Art Gallery and fashion exhibitions take place there once a year. The collections' main strengths are the decades from the 1920s to the 1970s but there are important earlier pieces, most notably a rare, 17th century slap sole shoe. Not surprisingly, beach wear is a major area of collection: in 2009 Southend received a donation of 500 bathing suits from private collector, Mavis Plume. They date from around 1900 to the 1980s and include several rare pieces. Bathing suits include a 1920s men's suit in pure silk, manufactured in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, a 1930s ladies homemade knitted bathing suit, and an all-in-one navy cotton suit with cream piping, dating to c.1900. Womenswear includes an apple green silk pelisse robe worn by Sarah Wiseman of Paglesham,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

at her wedding in 1813, a green corduroy coat of the 1930s, and a 1950s yellow cotton summer dress with black and white pattern and black velvet bows.

Exhibitions

A selection of paintings from the collection is always on display. Highlights include Constable's "On the Stour" and Henry Bright's "Hadleigh Castle". There is a year-round programme of temporary exhibitions including the prestigious Essex Open Exhibition, which runs July–September annually. There are also regular displays of historic costume from the museum collection. Themes explored in the past include wedding costume, beachwear, and evening dress as well as various decades. In 2012, the Gallery hosted an exhibition of 19th Century prints of the town and surrounding area, complemented by modern photographs of the same locations. The 'A Time and A Place' exhibition featured views of local landmarks such as Cliff Gardens, The Seafront, The Pier and

Hadleigh Castle Hadleigh Castle is a ruined fortification in the English county of Essex, overlooking the Thames Estuary from south of the town of Hadleigh. Built after 1215 during the reign of Henry III by Hubert de Burgh, the castle was surrounded by parkl ...

, all donated to the Gallery by a local resident.

Additional photographs

Image:1870s purple dress.jpg, 1870s dress in the Southend costume collection Image:1920s black and gold lace dress.jpg, A 1920s black and gold lace dress in the collection of Southend Museums Service Image:1925 wool bathing suit.JPG, An orange wool jersey ladies' bathing suit, c.1925. From the costume collections of Southend Museums Service Image:Walter G Beecroft.jpg, Walter Beecroft (1885–1961), founder of the Beecroft Art Gallery in Southend-on-Sea

External links

*
Art UK

References