Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
OR:
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a
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 thes ...
and art gallery in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It has a collection of international importance covering
fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...
,
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
s,
metalwork Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...
,
jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...
, natural history,
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
, ethnography,
local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small ...
and
industrial history The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going fr ...
. The museum/gallery is run by Birmingham Museums Trust, the largest independent museums trust in the United Kingdom, which also runs eight other museums around the city. Entrance to the Museum and Art Gallery is free, but some major exhibitions in the Gas Hall incur an entrance fee.


History

In 1829, the Birmingham Society of Artists created a ''private'' exhibition building in
New Street, Birmingham New Street is a street in central Birmingham, England. It is one of the city's principal thoroughfares and shopping streets linking Victoria Square to the Bullring Shopping Centre. It gives its name to New Street railway station, although ...
while the historical precedent for public education around that time produced the Factory Act 1833, the first instance of Government funding for education. The
Museums Act 1845 The Museums Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict c 43), sometimes called the Museums of Art Act 1845 or the Museums of Art in Boroughs Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which gave the town councils of larger municipal boroughs the power t ...
" mpoweredboroughs with a population of 10,000 or more to raise a 1/2d for the establishment of museums." In 1864, the first ''public'' exhibition room, was opened when the Society and other donors presented 64 pictures as well as the
Sultanganj Buddha The Sultanganj Buddha is a Gupta Empire, Gupta–Pala Empire, Pala transitional period sculpture, the largest substantially complete copper Buddha figure known from the time. The statue is dated to between 500 and 700 AD (but see below). It is 2.3 ...
to
Birmingham Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom ( ...
and these were housed in the Free Library building but, due to lack of space, the pictures had to move to
Aston Hall Aston Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, England, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean prodigy house. In 1864, the house was bought by Birmingham Corpor ...
.'Economic and Social History: Social History since 1815', ''A History of the County of Warwick'': VII ''The City of Birmingham'' (1964), pp. 223–45
Feeney
(accessed: 30 January 2008).
Joseph Henry Nettlefold Joseph Henry Nettlefold (19 September 1827 – 22 November 1881) was a British industrialist, the Nettlefold in Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds. He was born in London to John Sutton Nettlefold who, in 1854, dispatched him to manage the business o ...
(1827–1881) bequeathed twenty-five pictures by David Cox to Birmingham Art Gallery on the condition it opened on Sundays. In June 1880, local artist
Allen Edward Everitt Allen Edward Everitt (1824 – 11 June 1882) was an English architectural artist and illustrator. He was a leading artist in the Birmingham area between 1850 and 1880, and his work is a valuable historical record of local buildings of that per ...
accepted the post of honorary curator of the Free Art Gallery, a municipal institution which was the forerunner of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.W. J. Harrison, 'Everitt, Allen Edward (1824–1882)', rev. Stephen Wildman, ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'',
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2004
Jesse Collings Jesse Collings (2 December 1831 – 20 November 1920) was Mayor of Birmingham, England, a Liberal (later Liberal Unionist) member of Parliament, but was best known nationally in the UK as an advocate of educational reform and land reform.Ash ...
, Mayor of Birmingham 1878–79, was responsible for free libraries in Birmingham and was the original proponent of the Birmingham Art Gallery. A gift of £10,000 (equivalent to £ in 2020) made by Sir Richard and George Tangye started a new drive for an art gallery and, in 1885, following other donations and £40,000 from the council, the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
officially opened the new gallery on Saturday 28 November 1885. The Museum and Art Gallery occupied an extended part of the
Council House A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...
above the new offices of the municipal Gas Department (which in effect subsidised the venture thus circumventing the
Public Libraries Act 1850 The Public Libraries Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict c.65) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which first gave local boroughs the power to establish free public libraries. The Act was the first legislative step in the creation of an enduring natio ...
which limited the use of public funds on the arts). The building was designed by
Yeoville Thomason Henry Richard Yeoville Yardley Thomason (17 July 1826 – 19 July 1901) was a British architect active in Birmingham. He was born in Edinburgh to a Birmingham family, and set up his own practice in Birmingham 1853–54. Life Yeoville ...
. The metalwork for the new building (and adjoining Council House) was by the Birmingham firm of Hart, Son, Peard & Co. and extended to both the interior and exterior including the distinctive cast-iron columns in the main gallery space for the display of decorative art. The lofty portico, surmounted by a pediment by
Francis John Williamson Francis John Williamson (17 July 1833 – 12 March 1920) was a British portrait sculptor, reputed to have been Queen Victoria's favourite. Career After studying under John Bell he was an articled pupil of John Henry Foley for seven years, ...
, representing an allegory of Birmingham contributing to the fine arts, was together with the clock-tower considered the "most conspicuous features" of the exterior upon its opening. By 1900 the collection, especially its contemporary British holdings, was deemed by the ''
Magazine of Art A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...
'' to be "one of the finest and handsomest" in Britain. Until 1946, when property taxes were voted towards acquisitions, the museum relied on the generosity of private individuals. John Feeney provided £50,000 to provide a further gallery. Seven galleries had to be rebuilt after being bombed in 1940. Immediately after
World War II 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 opposing ...
"Mighty Mary" Mary Woodall (1901–1988) was appointed keeper of art under director,
Trenchard Cox Sir George Trenchard Cox (1905–1995) was a British museum director. Early years Cox was born on 31 July 1905 in London to barrister William Pallett Cox and Marion. He was educated at Eton College and then at King's College, Cambridge, where h ...
. Woodall and Cox, through their links to the London art world, were able to attract exhibitions, much publicity and donations to the gallery. In 1956, Woodall replaced Cox when the latter became
Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum The Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum is the head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a post currently held by Tristram Hunt, who succeeded Martin Roth (museologist), Martin Roth, who died in August 2017, months after he announce ...
.Kenneth Garlick, 'Woodall, Mary (1901–1988)', ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'',
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, September 2004. John Woodward (1921–1988) was Keeper of Art from 1956 to 1964. In 1951, the
Museum of Science and Industry, Birmingham Thinktank, Birmingham (formerly known as simply Thinktank) is a science museum in Birmingham, England. Opened in 2001, it is part of Birmingham Museums Trust and is located within the Millennium Point complex on Curzon Street, Digbeth. Hist ...
was incorporated into BM&AG. In 2001, the Science Museum closed with some exhibits being transferred to
Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum Thinktank, Birmingham (formerly known as simply Thinktank) is a science museum in Birmingham, England. Opened in 2001, it is part of Birmingham Museums Trust and is located within the Millennium Point complex on Curzon Street, Digbeth. Hi ...
, which was operated by the independent Thinktank Trust that has since become part of Birmingham Museums Trust. The main entrance is located in
Chamberlain Square Chamberlain Square or Chamberlain Place is a public square in central Birmingham, England, named after statesman and notable mayor of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain. The Victorian square was drastically remodelled in the 1970s, with most of th ...
below the clock-tower known locally as "
Big Brum Big Brum is the local name for the clock tower on the Council House, Birmingham, England. Built in 1885, the clock tower is part of the first extension to the original Council House of 1879 and stands above the Museum & Art Gallery. The clock t ...
". The entrance hall memorial reads 'By the gains of Industry we promote Art'. The Extension Block has entrances via the Gas Hall in
Edmund Street __notoc__ Edmund Street is a street located in Birmingham, England. Edmund Street is one of a series of roads on the old Colmore Estate which originally stretched from Temple Row in the city centre, around St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham, St ...
and Great Charles Street. Waterhall, the original gas department, has its own entrance on Edmund Street. In October 2010, the Waterhall closed as a BM&AG gallery as a result of a £1.5m cut to Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery's budget in 2010–11. The last BM&AG exhibition that took place in the Waterhall at that time was the Steve McCurry retrospective that ran from 26 June to 17 October 2010. The Waterhall and the Gas Hall have reopened for exhibitions throughout the year. BM&AG, formerly managed by
Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom ...
, is now, with Thinktank, part of Birmingham Museums Trust. Due to the global pandemic, the museum closed in October 2020. The museum remained closed throughout 2021 as part of a project to rewire the Council complex that houses the museum. The museum partially reopened in April 2022 with a number of pop-up exhibitions. It will close again in December 2022 ahead of a full reopening expected in 2024.


Art Gallery collection highlights

8th Rossetti Proserpine cropped.jpeg,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
,
''Proserpine'' Edward Burne-Jones Star of Bethlehem.jpg,
Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...
,
''The Star of Bethlehem'' Ford Madox Brown, The last of England.jpg, Ford Madox Brown,
''The Last of England'' William Holman Hunt - The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple.jpg, William Holman Hunt,
''
The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple ''The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple'' (1854–1860) is a painting by William Holman Hunt intended as an ethnographically accurate version of the subject traditionally known as " Christ Among the Doctors", an illustration of the child Jesus ...
'' Sandys, Frederick - Morgan le Fay.JPG,
Frederick Sandys Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys (born Antonio Frederic Augustus Sands; 1 May 1829 – 25 June 1904), usually known as Frederick Sandys, was a British painter, illustrator, and draughtsman, associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He was also assoc ...
, '' ''Morgan le Fay'', 1864 Medea-Sandys.jpg, Frederick Sandys,
''Medea'' B Gennari II Sagrada Familia 1682 Birmingham Museum Art Gallery.jpg, Bendetto Gennari II,
''Sagrada Familia'' Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery - A Christmas Carol at Bracken Dene - Arthur Hughes.jpg, Arthur Hughes
''A Christmas Carol at Bracken Dene''


Paintings

The Art Gallery is most noted for its extensive collections of paintings ranging from the 14th to the 21st century. They include works by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the world's largest collection of works by
Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...
. Notable painters in oil include the following: ;English School * Constable, John – 2 paintings; * Cox, David – 11 paintings; * Gainsborough, Thomas – 3 paintings; * Hogarth, William – 2 paintings; * Landseer, Sir Edwin – 1 painting; * Lely, Peter – 2 painting; * Turner, J M W – 1 painting; * Bacon, Francis – 1 painting; * Spencer, Stanley – 3 paintings; * Lanyon, Peter – 1 painting; * Heron, Patrick – 1 painting; * Jones, Allen – 1 painting; Paintings from the Dutch School include a painting each from
Jan van Goyen Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapesm marines, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscape, cityscap ...
and
Willem van de Velde the Younger Willem van de Velde the Younger (18 December 1633 (baptised)6 April 1707) was a Dutch marine painter, the son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, who also specialised in maritime art. His brother, Adriaen van de Velde, was a landscape painter. ...
. ;Flemish School * Christus, Petrus – 1 painting; * Rubens, Peter Paul – 1 painting; ;French School * Dufrénoy, Georges – 1 painting; * Dughet, Gaspard – 1 painting; * Gellée, Claude – 2 painting; ;Impressionists * Degas, Edgar – 1 painting; * Pissarro, Camille – 1 painting; * Renoir, Pierre-Auguste – 1 painting; ;German School * Zoffany, Johan – 1 painting; ;Italian School * Batoni, Pompeo – 1 painting; * Bellini, Giovanni – 1 painting; * Botticelli, Sandro – 1 painting; *
Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...
, (Giovanni Antonio Canal) – 2 paintings; * Crespi, Giuseppe – 1 painting; * Dolci, Carlo – 1 painting; * il Garofalo, Benvenuto Tisio – 1 painting; * Gentileschi, Orazio – 1 painting; * Guardi, Francesco – 1 painting; *
Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vi ...
, (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) – 1 painting; * Martini, Simone – 1 painting; * Reni, Guido – 1 painting; * Rosa, Salvator – 1 painting; * Schiavone, Andrea – 1 painting; * Strozzi, Bernardo – 1 painting; ;Spanish School * Murillo, Bartolomé-Esteban – 1 painting.


Antiquities

The collection of antiquities includes coins from ancient times through to the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, artefacts from Ancient India and Central Asia, Ancient Cyprus and Ancient Egypt. The museum also holds 28 pieces of
Nimrud ivories The Nimrud ivories are a large group of small carved ivory plaques and figures dating from the 9th to the 7th centuries BC that were excavated from the Assyrian city of Nimrud (in modern Ninawa in Iraq) during the 19th and 20th centuries. The iv ...
from the
British School of Archaeology in Iraq The British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI) (formerly the British School of Archaeology in Iraq) is the only body in Britain devoted to research into the ancient civilizations and languages of Mesopotamia. It was founded in 1932 and its aim ...
. There is material from Classical Greece, the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
and
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
. There is also mediaeval material, much of which is now on display in The Birmingham History Galleries, a permanent exhibition on the third floor of the museum. In November 2014, a dedicated gallery was opened to display the Staffordshire Hoard. Discovered in the nearby village of
Hammerwich Hammerwich is a small village and civil parish in the Lichfield District, in Staffordshire, England. It is southeast of Burntwood and northeast of Brownhills. Name The name may derive from ''hamor'' (Old English: a hammer) and ''wīc'' (Old Engl ...
in 2009, it was the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. In respect of local and industrial history, the tower of the Birmingham
HP Sauce HP Sauce is a British brown sauce, the main ingredients of which are tomatoes and tamarind extract. It was named after London's Houses of Parliament. After making its first appearance on British dinner tables in the late 19th century, HP Sauce ...
factory was a famous landmark alongside the
Aston Expressway The A38(M), commonly known as the Aston Expressway, is a motorway in Birmingham, England. It is long and was opened on 24 May 1972.