Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery is a purpose-built Victorian art gallery in

Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of 3 ...

in the West Midlands of England. It is notable for its

Ruskin Pottery The Ruskin Pottery was an English art pottery studio founded in 1898 by Edward R. Taylor, the first principal of both the Lincoln School of Art and the Birmingham School of Art, to be run by his son, William Howson Taylor, formerly a student th ...

collection and for hosting the first public display of the

Stuckism Stuckism () is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art.West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, c ...

architects Wood and Kendrick, and built by Henry Wilcock of

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. Four panels on the building's facade show the heads of

Sir Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

to represent Architecture,

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depen ...

for Art,

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...

for Sculpture, and

Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the g ...

for Science. Two busts sit in recesses above the entrance, of Alderman Williams and Alderman Lloyd, both mayors of Wednesbury and chairmen of the Art Gallery Committee. Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the museum was used by the council as offices, but returned to use as a museum in 1972, modernised and renovated.

Permanent exhibitions

The museum holds a number of permanent displays:

The Ruskin Pottery collection

Ruskin Pottery was made in Sandwell, and is sought by collectors globally. The pottery on display exemplifies numerous types of glaze, including Bleu Soufflé, Lustre, Flambé and Crystalline.

The Richards Gallery

The gallery was originally built to display a large collection of works owned by Wednesbury residents, Edwin and Mary Richards. The couple were prolific collectors of art and especially favoured landscapes. In her will, Mary donated her and her husband's collection of paintings to the town of Wednesbury. These are displayed in the Richards Gallery. The works were stored in caves in

Kinver Kinver is a large village in the District of South Staffordshire in Staffordshire, England. It is in the far south-west of the county, at the end of the narrow finger of land surrounded by the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and the ...

, Staffordshire during the

. Only some of the paintings were returned to public display when the war ended. The collection now consists of fifty-four paintings, following a large sale by Wednesbury Borough Council in 1948.

Old toys and games

This gallery stores toys and games from Victorian to 20th century. Toy-handling activities are provided for Key Stage 1 classes.

Joseph Gibbs

The museum has a significant collection of the works of local artist, Joseph Gibbs, including a probably posthumous portrait of Mary Ann Richards, dated 1891.

Kilvert medals

The museum holds the two

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

medals of former Wednesbury mayor, Alderman John Ashley Kilvert JP. They were noted missing in 1974, believed stolen. After passing through several hands, they were bought, innocently, by a medal collector from Walsall. After his death, his widow put them up for auction, when their origin was identified and she agreed to donate them back to the museum. The museum also has his portrait, in oil, in which he is wearing civic regalia. The artist is unknown.

Temporary exhibitions

The Museum hosts a lively series of temporary exhibitions which change every six months. 2003 Stuck in Wednesbury (1)

In 2003, the museum staged ''Stuck in Wednesbury'', the first show in a public gallery of the

Stuckism Stuckism () is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art.National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...

2004, . An essay from the book is online a
stuckism.com
Between July and December 2013, the museum hosted an exhibition of works by the international video artist,

Bill Viola Bill Viola ( , ; born 1951) is an American contemporary video artist whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, d ...

. This exhibition was organised through the Artist Rooms programme in conjunction with the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland. The works on display included ''Catherine's Rooms'', ''Four Hands'' and ''Surrender''. During the first half of 2014, the museum hosted an exhibition of portraits on loan from Ingestre Hall, the 17th-century Jacobean mansion and seat of the Earls Talbot and the Earls of Shrewsbury.

References

External links

Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery website (Sandwell MBC microsite)
{{authority control Museums in the West Midlands (county) Art museums and galleries in the West Midlands (county) Toy museums in England Decorative arts museums in England Local museums in the West Midlands (county) Wednesbury Ceramics museums in the United Kingdom Art museums established in 1891 1891 establishments in England