The Russell-Cotes Museum (formally, the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum) is an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, England. A Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

originally known as East Cliff Hall, it is located on the top of the East Cliff, next to the

Royal Bath Hotel The Royal Bath Hotel is a building in Bournemouth, Dorset. It is regarded to be the towns most famous hotel. Since 1974, the hotel has been a Listed building, Grade II listed building. History George Tapps-Gervis built the hotel in 1838. The ...

History and collections

In 1897, the architect

John Frederick Fogerty John Frederick Fogerty (1863–1938), was an Irish architect and engineer active late 19th-century Limerick, London, Shropshire, Bournemouth, Pretoria, and Zambia. Born in Limerick, he was the son of architect William Fogerty, grandson o ...

was commissioned by

Merton Russell-Cotes Sir Merton Russell-Cotes (Wolverhampton 8 May 1835 – 27 January 1921 Bournemouth) was Mayor of Bournemouth, England, 1894–95. During his Mayoralty, Meyrick Park, two free libraries, and the first two schools of art in the borough ...

, then the owner of the Royal Bath Hotel, to build a house as a birthday present for his wife Annie. Originally called East Cliff Hall, it was built in the northeast section of his hotel's garden. Built in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style with interiors by John Thomas and his son Oliver. It was completed in its first form in 1901. In 1907, Annie Russell-Cotes donated East Cliff Hall and its contents as a museum to the town of Bournemouth and Merton donated his fine

art collection A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, repla ...

. In return they were made honorary freemen of the town. They continued living in part of the house and over the next ten years they paid for an extension to be built and made further donations including the freehold of the site. It was formally opened by

Princess Beatrice Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is a member of the British royal family. She is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of Charle ...

in 1919. After their deaths the

Borough of Bournemouth Bournemouth Borough Council was the local authority of Bournemouth in Dorset, England and ceased to exist on 1 April 2019. It was a unitary authority, although between 1974 and 1997 it was an administrative district council with Dorset. Previo ...

took over the running of East Cliff Hall and re-opened it as the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum on 10 March 1922. After Sir Merton's death, it was extended into his part of the house; a further extension was opened in 2000. The house and the new annexe display various items collected in the course of Sir Merton's foreign travels, especially to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and paintings from his personal art collection. One room is the Sir

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

Museum; Irving, a friend of the Russell-Cotes', had stayed in that room. When Irving died in 1905, this room was devoted to his memory. Items purchased at the sale of Irving's effects formed the basis of the Irving Museum and were displayed with memorabilia associated with his contemporaries such as

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

and

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...

Exhibitions

Twice-yearly exhibitions of contemporary art support works from the main collection, and have included painter

Jonathan Yeo Jonathan Yeo (born 18 December 1970, in London, England) is a British artist who rose to international prominence in his early 20s as a contemporary portraitist, having painted Kevin Spacey, Dennis Hopper, Cara Delevingne, Damien Hirst, Prince P ...

and sculptor

Jon Edgar Jon Edgar is a British sculptor of the Frink School. Improvisation is an important part of his reductive working process and developed from the additive working process of Alan Thornhill. Final works are often autobiographical, perhaps referenc ...

in 2011.

Children's facilities

The new annexe also has a restaurant and a play area for young children. The art gallery in the old annexe displays a wide and frequently changing collection of pictures and statues. Older children are invited to complete a "detective sheet", for example finding where there are pictures of a bat, a kingfisher and other animals and birds.

Gallery

File:RussellCotesInterior1.jpg, Interior of the hall in the museum File:HMS 'Bombay' on Fire at Montevideo, Uruguay, 14 December 1864 by George Cochrane Kerr DOR BRC AH129.jpg, HMS ''Bombay''; on Fire at Montevideo, Uruguay, 14 December 1864 by George Cochrane Kerr File:Etty – The Dawn of Love.jpg, ''

The Dawn of Love Dawn of Love may refer to: * ''The Dawn of Love'' (painting), oil painting by English artist William Etty * ''The Dawn of Love'' (film), 1916 American film *''Sons of Ingmar ''Sons of Ingmar'' ( sv, Ingmarssönerna), also released in the United Ki ...

'', 1828, by

William Etty William Etty (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude figures. He was the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes. Born in York, he left scho ...

File:Henry Irving's Objects in the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum.jpg, Henry Irving's props

References

External links

*
The Joy of Shards Mosaics Resource information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum Houses completed in 1901 1919 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Bournemouth Biographical museums in Dorset Art museums and galleries in Dorset Musical instrument museums Museums in Bournemouth Historic house museums in Dorset Art museums established in 1919 Art Nouveau architecture in England Tourist attractions in Bournemouth Grade II* listed buildings in Dorset Grade II* listed museum buildings