Almost 1500 oil paintings from the Royal Pavilion & Museums collections are now available to view online for the first time as part of a new national project. A range of 25 collections from museum services in East Sussex are included in the project, with the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove providing one of the more major collections now accessible for the public to enjoy.
Run by the Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF) in partnership with the BBC, Your Paintings aims to make all oil paintings in public ownership, held by state and local authorities, accessible by creating a complete online catalogue of all of these works. This ground-breaking project reveals paintings for the nation to see that are both on display across the country and those that are currently in storage.
Andrew Ellis, Director, the Public Catalogue Foundation, says: “No country has ever embarked on such a monumental project to showcase its entire painting collection online. Working with collections and individuals all over the UK, this project will reveal to the world the UK’s extraordinary holding of oil paintings.”
Included in the online collections made accessible by the Royal Pavilion & Museums are several important artworks. The Raising of Lazarus by Jan Lievens, 1631 was painted at the time when Lievens and Rembrandt were both young artists working in Leyden. It is widely believed to be the painting recorded in the inventory of Rembrandt's possessions drawn up upon on his bankruptcy in 1656. The Cabyard, Night by Robert Polhill Bevan c 1909 – 1910 was purchased by Brighton Museum & Art Gallery in 1913 for £20 and is the only one of Bevan's paintings acquired by a public gallery during his lifetime.
Also in the collection are eleven significant works of American 20th Century Art bequeathed to the museum by local architect Paul Heyer from his collection, including Red Scramble by Frank Stella 1977.
Paintings by artists with local connections and artworks depicting Brighton & Hove and Sussex from across the eras are also now available to view within the site.
Jenny Lund, Curator of Fine Art at the Royal Pavilion & Museums Brighton and Hove, says: “The Royal Pavilion & Museums is very pleased to be part of the Your Paintings project. It allows us to make our Fine Art collection much more accessible to a larger audience both in the United Kingdom and abroad. The PCF publication is a tremendous help in our daily work, supporting us to reach, and engage our audiences to a greater degree.”
The full collection of paintings from the Royal Pavilion & Museums can be viewed here
Together the Royal Pavilion & Museums along with other Museums services in the region such as Charleston, the Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne, and Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, have collectively made 2,800 oil paintings from East Sussex collections available to view online. These paintings provide a unique insight into the history and artistic heritage of East Sussex for people across the UK to discover.
As well as contributing to this project, The Royal Pavilion & Museums oil paintings have also been made accessible via the museum’s own Image Store, which allows members of the public and press to view and download images of objects from the collections. As well as oil paintings, prints, watercolours, and old photographs revealing the history of Brighton & Hove, the Image Store also hosts free publications and learning resources for schools. Access the Image Store here
Published 20th January 2012
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