Wolverhampton Art Gallery
| Established | 1884 |
|---|---|
| Location | Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, England |
| Collection size | 20,000 objects |
| Visitors | 158,658 (2008) |
| Website | www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk |
Wolverhampton Art Gallery is located in the City of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, United Kingdom. The building was funded and constructed by local contractor Philip Horsman (1825–1890), and built on land provided by the Council. It opened in May 1884.
Virtual Tour of Wolverhampton Art Gallery
The two-storey building of Wolverhampton Art Gallery was designed by prominent Birmingham architect Julius Chatwin (1829–1907). It was built of Bath stone, an Oolitic Limestone from Bath, Somerset, with six red granite columns indicating the main entrance. The decorative sculptural frieze on the facade is composed of sixteen characters representing the Arts and Crafts, including sculpture, painting, architecture, pottery, glassblowing, and wrought-iron work. It is a Grade II* listed building.
In 2006–07 the building was refurbished by Purcell, partly modernized and extended to create additional exhibition spaces.
The most outstanding artwork of international importance in the collection is the large-scale painting Peace and Plenty Binding the Arrows of War (1614) by the Flemish Baroque painter Abraham Janssens van Nuyssen (ca. 1567/1576 - 1632). Commissioned and paid for by the Antwerp Guild of Old Crossbowmen, it was a pendant to the Rubens’s Crowning of the Victor. In the 1800s, the city’s guilds were broken up and their treasures dispersed. Janssen’s picture eventually found its way to a Mrs Thornley of Birmingham. In 1885, she sold it to Wolverhampton Art Gallery. This is the only painting by Janssens in British public collections and a splendid example of Flemish Baroque art. Apart from the Janssens' painting, the collection of Old Masters is relatively small. It includes a version of "A Spinner's Grace" by Gerard Dou, "Bouquet of Flowers" by Jan van Huysum. There is a collection of Old Master drawings, which includes graphic work by Wenceslas Hollar and Alessandro Allori.
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