Fine Art
The fine art collection at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery began when the museum was opened in 1908 and consists of watercolours, oils, acrylic paintings, prints and drawings.
An insight into the collection
Prior to 1970 the museum had no strict collecting policy in terms of its fine art collection, but since then, the aim has been for the collection to be representative of the main British art movements since 1800. Romantic, Pre-Raphaelite and particularly the Modern British movements are well represented in the oil painting collection, as too are landscapes, portraits, local views, still life and figurative works. Overall there are few abstract or contemporary paintings, although the Museum is actively acquiring more. The local influence is prevalent throughout the collections and many paintings depict a Sussex subject or are painted by an artist with a Sussex association.
The Camden Town Group are well represented and the collection includes works by Harold Gilman, Spencer Gore, Charles Ginner, Lucien Pissarro and Walter Sickert. The ‘jewel in the crown’ of the collection is Bianca, a rare Shakespearian-inspired portrait of 1869 by William Holman Hunt, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
