The New Art Gallery :: Walsall

Introduction

Garman Ryan Collection

Discovery Gallery

Permanent Collection

Architecture: :
The home of the collection

Library and Archive

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Collections Introduction

The Collections at The New Art Gallery Walsall

The Garman Ryan Collection
The Permanent Art Collection
The Garman Ryan Epstein Collection
The Epstein Collection Archive and Library

To search all The New Art Gallery Walsall Collections, Archives and Library , Please click here

The Garman Ryan Collection

The New Art Gallery Walsall is the home of the distinguished Garman Ryan Collection, which was donated to the Borough in 1972 by Lady Kathleen Epstein. It consists of three hundred and sixty-five works of art, over a third of them being three-dimensional works from many different cultures and periods around the world. It also contains a wide-ranging body of the work of Sir Jacob Epstein and many significant works by European artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, Turner, Corot, Renoir and Constable represented in prints, sketches and drawings as well as paintings and sculptures. The Garman Ryan Collection is a closed collection and no works will be added to it. Future collecting in relation to this collection will be made through the Garman Ryan Epstein Collection and Permanent Collection.

Collecting Policy -The Garman Ryan Collection

This is a closed collection.

The Garman Ryan Epstein Collection

The Garman Ryan Epstein Collection was formed in 1996 with the intention of creating a partner collection to the Garman Ryan Collection that is a closed collection. The Garman Ryan Epstein Collection contains over thirty art works by artists closely related to the Garman Ryan Collection, in particular works by Sir Jacob Epstein, which have been purchased, bequeathed or donated to The New Art Gallery Walsall.

Collecting Policy - The Garman Ryan Epstein Collection �

The New Art Gallery Walsall will seek to acquire for the Garman Ryan Epstein Collection:

�Work by Sir Jacob Epstein which shows aspects of his practice that are not adequately represented in the Garman Ryan Collection.

�Work which is of particular family interest, reflecting the intimate family nature of the Garman Ryan Collection.

�Of particular relevance for educational and interpretative strategies in the Garman Ryan Collection.

�Other work by friends and family of Sir Jacob Epstein and Lady Kathleen Epstein, including the work of Lucian Freud, Theodore Garman, Sally Ryan, Henri Gaudier Brzeska, Amadeo Modigliani, Eric Gill, Ralph Brown, Fritz Muhsan, Ambrose McEvoy and Augustus John.

�Other work by artists not represented in the Garman Ryan Collection but whose work has a particular relationship to Sir Jacob Epstein's, including the work of Henry Moore, Elizabeth Frink, Constantin Brancusi and Frank Dobson.

�Work by artists whose work is already in the Garman Ryan Collection, for example Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas

The Epstein Collection Archive

The archive was instigated in 1996 as a "partner" collection to the Garman Ryan Collection and the Garman Ryan Epstein Collection. It consists of photographs, letters, catalogues, books, tapes, videos and other digitally stored material relating to Sir Jacob Epstein, Lady Kathleen Garman and her family and friends. It also contains material relating to artists whose work is represented in the Garman Ryan Collection. The archive is intended to be a major resource for anyone wishing to research the above areas and acts as a secure repository with appropriate legal restrictions for items deposited by donors and lenders. It also supports the development of interpretation around the Garman Ryan Collection and the work of Sir Jacob Epstein.

Collecting Policy - The Epstein Collection Archive

We will seek to acquire:

�Material in any media and from any period of time relating to the Garman Ryan Collection, Lady Kathleen Epstein, Sally Ryan, Sir Jacob Epstein and their friends and families in line with the code of practice on Archives for Museums in the United Kingdom.

�Material in any media and from any period of time related to the artists whose work is represented in the Garman Ryan Collection and the Garman Ryan Epstein Collection in line with the code of practice on Archives for Museums in the United Kingdom.

The Permanent Art Collection

The Permanent Art Collection consists of art works collected since the foundation of Walsall Museum and Art Gallery in 1892. The art collection was separated from the history collection and the local archive collection in 1976. The Permanent Art Collection comprises approximately 1,500 art works in many different media from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with some recently collected contemporary works from the twenty-first century. The Permanent Collection art works have been collected through a series of donations, bequests and purchases.

About one quarter of the collection comprises of topographical works of the Borough of Walsall and its people from different periods. Since the early seventies the Art Gallery has also collected contemporary art works in all media, many of which relate to the Garman Ryan Collection and/or are by local artists or artists who have exhibited at the Gallery.

The Contemporary Art Society Special Collections Scheme has enabled the collection of contemporary art works with a sculptural focus. The New Art Gallery Walsall is one of a handful of purpose built galleries this century; this has placed it in a unique position for a fresh approach to its collections through this scheme.

The New Art Gallery Walsall aims to continue to collect contemporary art works building upon the legacy of the Special Collections Scheme, both drawing upon the strengths of the existing collections and placing work within the context of the new gallery.

Collecting Policies - The Permanent Art Collection

The New Art Gallery Walsall will seek to acquire works for the Permanent Art Collection according to the following criteria:

�Work from any period which represents and reflects Walsall Borough and its people, including the industrial past and present.

�Within the context of cultural diversity, work by artists of any period from cultural groups under-represented in the collections.

�Work by artists who have exhibited at The New Art Gallery Walsall.

�Work from any period, which has close reference to the Garman Ryan Collection or the Permanent Art Collection, other than that already covered by the Garman Ryan Epstein Collection.

The Permanent Art Collection - Contemporary Collecting Policy

Building on the legacy of the Special Collections Scheme The New Art Gallery Walsall will :-

�Seek to acquire significant contemporary art works by both emerging artists and artists of national and international status. For the purposes of this policy we define contemporary as created within the last ten years.

�Select works in any media, which are provocative and questioning, aiming to inspire debate and discussion about the nature of contemporary art with the audiences at The New Art Gallery Walsall.

�Select works, which reflect the urban environment of The New Art Gallery Walsall and the West Midlands.

�Select works, which can make temporary interventions into the architecture, function and design of The New Art Gallery Walsall.

�We intend to both purchase existing work and commission artist's work for the collections.

�We will also aim to collect where relevant supporting art work, documentation and interpretative material that relates to the purchase or commission i.e.maquettes, drawings, sketchbooks, photographs and recorded interviews (audio and video).

The Special Collection Scheme

The Contemporary Art Society Special Collection Scheme ran between 1998-2004 funded by the arts lottery. It supported the acquisition by museums of contemporary art and crafts across the country. In Walsall, the collecting policy enabled works to be collected, which demonstrated the diversity of contemporary sculpture and within the context of a unique new building. Through this scheme, Walsall has been able to add to its collections key works by Gavin Turk, Hew Locke, Mike Nelson, Yoshihiro Suda, Dorothy Cross, Laura Ford, Darren Lago, Estelle Thompson, Richard Woods, Yinka Shonibare and Rose Finn-Kelcey. The works that comprise this collection transfer ownership to Walsall Council from the Contemporary Art Society in 2014. All of the twenty five works collected through the Special Collections Scheme will transfer ownership from the Contemporary Art Society to The New Art Gallery Walsall in 2014 when they will become a part of the Permanent Art Collection.

The Collecting policy of the Special Collections Scheme 1998-2004 was :

�The New Art Gallery Walsall will collect significant works by contemporary artists of national and international status, whose work broadly comes under the category of sculpture.

�We intend to select works in any media which are provocative and questioning and which challenge the idea of 'sculpture'. Aiming to inspire debate and discussion about the nature of contemporary 'sculpture' with the audiences at The New Art Gallery Walsall.

�To select works which question the nature of collecting within the context of art galleries and art gallery collections and in particular addressing those at The New Art Gallery Walsall.

�We intend to consider works, which can make temporary interventions into the architecture, function and design of The New Art Gallery Walsall.

�We intend to both purchase and commission artists work, displaying each work in a solo exhibition or focused display of that artists work at The New Art Gallery Walsall.

�We will also aim to collect supporting art work by each of the artists and interpretative material which relates to the purchase or commission ie: maquettes, drawings, sketch books, photographs and recorded interviews (audio and video.) These will be a part of the special collections scheme and create a permanent archive relating to the work.

Please visit the Epstein website for more information about Sir Jacob Epstein's work and life

In and around
the Gallery

Theodore Garman - Summer Garden South Harting

Persian turquoise-glazed pottery bow