In 1911, Southampton Councillor Robert Chipperfield bequeathed his art collection and a significant trust fund to the city – an act of generosity which led to the founding of Southampton City Art Gallery. In his will, Chipperfield stipulated that all future acquisitions should be made in consultation with the director of the National Gallery, London, and so began a long and fruitful partnership between the two institutions. Using untapped archival material and new oral histories, this major exhibition, accompanied by a book on the subject, tells the fascinating history of Southampton City Art Gallery. It charts key episodes in the Gallery’s development including Kenneth Clark’s support in the 1930s, the building of a pre-1900 collection, the shift to collecting modern art and a new relationship with the Tate Gallery from 1976. It also explores how, since the mid-1970s, Southampton City Art Gallery and the National Gallery have continued to collaborate in new and important ways.
Richly illustrated, with an engaging and insightful narrative, the accompanying book features a catalogue section reflecting Southampton’s diverse and high-calibre collection, spanning Renaissance painting, old masters, Impressionism, British modernism, and contemporary art as well as sculpture.
TIAMSA Board Member Susanna Avery-Quash is Senior Research Curator (History of Collecting) at the National Gallery, London.
Jemma Craig is Curatorial Trainee at the National Gallery, London.
Free Admission; please book online
For blog posts by Susanna Avery-Quash on the subject, please follow the links below:
https://www.southamptoncityartgallery.com/category/news/ – general page for all posts
https://www.southamptoncityartgallery.com/2021/04/creating-a-national-collection-2-researching-the-relationship/ – my post
https://www.facebook.com/SouthamptonCityArtGallery/
https://www.instagram.com/southamptoncityartgallery/
https://twitter.com/ArtGallerySoto
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