 Herbert Art Gallery & Museum from Cathedral Square | |
 | |
| Established | 1960 |
|---|---|
| Location | Jordan Well, Coventry, England |
| Visitors | >1 million between 2008 and 2011 [1] [2] |
| Director | Paul Breed |
| Curator | Martin Roberts, Ali Wells |
| Public transit access | Pool Meadow Bus Station |
| Website | www |
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (also known as the Herbert) is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre, media studio and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry, England.
The museum is named after Sir Alfred Herbert, a Coventry industrialist and philanthropist whose gifts enabled the original building to be opened in 1960. Building began in 1939, with an interruption by the Second World War, and the Herbert opened in 1960. In 2008, it reopened after a £14 million refurbishment.
The Herbert is run by Culture Coventry, a registered charity, and admission is free. It derives financial support from donations, sales at the museum shop, and hiring the buildings out. [3] In 2010, the museum and gallery received more than 300,000 visitors, making it one of the most popular free tourist attractions in the West Midlands.[ citation needed ]
Museums in Coventry before the Herbert included the museum of the Coventry City Guild and the Benedictine Museum, opened by J. B. Shelton in the 1930s. However, Coventry City Council's collection of art treasures and museum pieces were housed in various buildings, and so the council acquired a half-acre site over a number of years costing £35,375. In 1938 the philanthropist Sir Alfred Herbert donated £100,000 to the corporation to erect a gallery and museum on the site. [4] Plans were drawn up by the Leicester architect Albert Herbert, a cousin of Sir Alfred, and building began the following year. [5]
The city's destruction during the Coventry Blitz meant construction was suspended, with only the basement completed. City architect Donald Gibson's radical rebuilding plan for Coventry city centre became war time propaganda for the post-war reconstruction of Britain. But, post-war economies required Gibson to concentrate on a building programme for the suburbs. Completion of the first building under his plan was delayed until 1953. [6]
New plans for the museum were drawn up in 1952 by the Leicester architects, Albert Herbert & Son, and in May 1954 the foundation stone was laid by Herbert, who also donated a further £100,000 to the project. [5] Herbert died in May 1957, and the museum and art gallery that bears his name was opened on 9 March 1960 by his third wife Lady Herbert. [5]
The first phase of a two-phase refurbishment was completed in 2005 with £3 million of funds from Coventry City Council, Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund. [5] During the refurbishment, it was considered that a painting by seventeenth-century artist Luca Giordano was too large and fragile to be moved. Instead the 3.02 by 5.83 metres (9.9 by 19.1 ft) canvas, which has been with The Herbert since the 1960s and described as one of the museum's most prized paintings, was boarded up in 2005 and uncovered three years later in time for the opening. [7]
In early 2008, the second phase was completed at a cost of £14 million.[ citation needed ] A new entrance on Bayley Lane was provided, along with a 500 sq. metre glass-covered court extension. The extended buildings include a new cafe area, education, training, creative media and arts information facilities, additional gallery spaces for temporary exhibitions, and facilities for conservation work and to preserve the city records and archive.
The Herbert is part of Culture Coventry, which also manages three additional local heritage sites: Coventry Transport Museum, the Old Grammar School, and the Lunt Roman Fort, situated three miles outside Coventry at Baginton. [8]
The museum won the Guardian Family Friendly Award 2010. [9] The same year, the gallery was shortlisted for the Art Fund Prize in recognition of its outstanding work in engaging new and diverse audiences. [10] [11]
The museum has also partnered with Google Arts & Culture to produce partnership pages including the history and story of Lady Godiva, medieval artifacts from Coventry and the life and friendships of the writer George Elliot.
Permanent gallery spaces include Sculpture, Old Masters paintings, Art Since 1900, Godiva [12] , Social and Industrial history, [13] and Elements (Natural History). [14]
The museum's notable collections include a costume collection dating from around 1800 to date, with the emphasis on nineteenth-century women's wear. [15] The museum is now concentrating on the acquisition of more modern clothes and items from different ethnic communities in Coventry. [15]
Another collection represents the city's history as a centre for ribbon making, which includes over 250 sample books, as well as woven Stevengraphs – a form of silk picture and bookmark, [16] together with dyer's samples, documents, woven badges and related machinery. [17]
The Heritage Lottery Fund granted nearly £200,000 to The Herbert and Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2008 for acquisitions in relation to the theme of peace and reconciliation. [18] [19]
In 2011, the museum raised £12,000 to buy The Coventry Album, a collection of paintings by William Henry Brooke in 1819. The album is one of the most important collection of historic pictures of Coventry. [20]
Culture Coventry is a charitable trust [8] that also administers three other local heritage sites:
Coventry Archives is housed in The Herbert. [21] Made up of what was the Coventry archives and Coventry local history, it houses the largest collection of records related to Coventry and its history. [22] including the Charter of Incorporation of the City of Coventry, Coventry City Council records. [23]
In 2018 Coventry Archives was re-branded from the previous name, Coventry History Centre. [24]
In 2005, The Herbert hosted a theatre project for children, showing them what it would have been like to be evacuees in the 1940s. The event won two awards, one for excellence in the field of heritage and the other for engaging children with history. [25] [26]
There are four temporary exhibition spaces, and the temporary exhibition programme includes exhibitions from national and international galleries such as The British Museum, V&A, Southbank Centre and Natural History Museum.[ citation needed ] Self-created exhibitions also explore local themes and social history.
In 2009, the Herbert hosted a collection of fifty watercolours from British artists such as J. M. W. Turner and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. [27]
In 2010, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the museum's opening, the Herbert held several events throughout the year. [28] In March more than 1,000 people attended a special event where ten objects, including a sixteenth-century tapestry and Shakespeare's ring, illustrating the history of Warwickshire, were put on display. [29]
In 2018, the Herbert hosted two major exhibitions. PLAY was an exhibition created in collaboration with the video game studio, Rare, and featured the history of the company's games. There was also a large section dedicated to the types of play that humans partake in. There was also a fad wall where visitors were encouraged to write their favourite fads. Visitors praised the exhibition for its intractability and emphasis on having fun inside the exhibition space.
The second major exhibition in 2018 was the ARTIST ROOMS: Anselm Kiefer. One of Germany's most significant post-war artists, Kiefer's work explores themes of national identity and collective memory. [30]
In 2020, as part of the Exploring Eliot project celebrating the 200th birthday of author George Eliot, the Herbert collaborated with Coventry University to explore Eliot's legacy and create films on her life and work. Students were selected primarily from the Faculty of English and were given an opportunity to work with museum collections, objects, artworks, archives and rare pieces from Eliot's personal life. The project was then adapted into a module and integrated into the English degrees at Coventry University and students in the coming years will be able to avail the opportunity as well. [31]
Lady Godiva, in Old English Godgifu, was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries.
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local history and industrial history.
John Egerton Christmas Piper CH was an English painter, printmaker and designer of stained-glass windows and both opera and theatre sets. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. He was educated at Epsom College and trained at the Richmond School of Art followed by the Royal College of Art in London. He turned from abstraction early in his career, concentrating on a more naturalistic but distinctive approach, but often worked in several different styles throughout his career.
Imperial War Museum North is a museum in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. One of five branches of the Imperial War Museum, it explores the impact of modern conflicts on people and society. It is the first branch of the Imperial War Museum to be located in the north of England. The museum occupies a site overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal on Trafford Wharf Road, Trafford Park, an area which during World War II was a key industrial centre and consequently heavily bombed during the Manchester Blitz in 1940. The area is now home to the Lowry cultural centre and the MediaCityUK development, which stand opposite the museum at Salford Quays.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. The building is located in Kelvingrove Park in the West End of the city, adjacent to Argyle Street. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is one of Scotland's most popular museums and free visitor attractions.
The River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, is located on a site at Mill Meadows by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international sport of rowing and the local town of Henley-on-Thames.
The Petit Palais is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France.
Herbert Media is the in-house media service at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry, England. It manages recording studios, video editing rooms and training rooms, and produces much of the audio and visual sequences for the museum's exhibitions and permanent displays.
Newport Museum and Art Gallery is a museum, library and art gallery in the city of Newport, South Wales. It is located in Newport city centre on John Frost Square and is adjoined to the Kingsway Shopping Centre.
York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in York, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. The building is a Grade II listed building and is managed by York Museums Trust.
Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, England, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the Wellcome Collection attracts over 550,000 visitors per year. The venue offers contemporary and historic exhibitions and collections, the Wellcome Library, a café, a bookshop and conference facilities. In addition to its physical facilities, Wellcome Collection maintains a website of original articles and archived images related to health.
Montrose Museum opened in 1842 in Montrose, Angus, Scotland. The museum came into being when in 1841 the Montrose Natural History and Antiquarian Society started a fund to expand its space; in order to house its curiosities and wonders ranging from geological and ethnographical artefacts to a collection of natural history objects and fine art. It was accredited by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in June 2009.
Julie Umerle is an American-born abstract painter who lives and works in London.
The SeaCity Museum is a museum in Southampton, England, which opened on 10 April 2012 to mark the centenary of RMS Titanic's departure from the city. It is housed within a part of the Grade II* listed civic centre building which previously housed the magistrates' court and police station. The museum contains two permanent exhibitions, one dedicated to Southampton's connection with RMS Titanic, and the other to the city's role as gateway to the world. A third space for temporary exhibitions is housed in a purpose-built pavilion extension to the civic centre. Further phases of development may yet add to the exhibition space.
Maria Jane Balshaw CBE is director of the Tate art museums and galleries. The appointment was confirmed by Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister at the time, on 16 January 2017, making Balshaw the first female director of the Tate.
Nahem Shoa is a contemporary London painter best known for his series of portraits, collectively called Giant Heads, which were painted at up to 15 times life size. He is also notable for having increased the number of portraits of Black and mixed-race British people on display in British museums. Shoa has won a number of awards and prizes for his work, and serves on The Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery's Contemporary Arts Panel. His work has been exhibited in London's National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Academy as well as at galleries and museums in other parts of the UK.
John David Yeadon is a British artist and art educator. A practicing artist for over 50 years, he explored issues of politics, sexuality, food, national identity, the grotesque and carnival. In the 1980s, his work was provocative with issues relating to male sexuality. An eclectic artist, essentially a painter and printmaker, his work has included text, digital images, and photography, and he has worked on banner making, theatre design and has collaborated with video artists.
The 136 museums in the city of Paris display many historical, scientific, and archeological artifacts from around the world, covering diverse and unique topics including fashion, theater, sports, cosmetics, and the culinary arts.
Mike Tooby is an independent curator and researcher based in Cardiff, Wales. His interests lie in integrating the practices often separated in curating in the arts and heritage settings: research, display, promotion, participation and learning. His own practice centres on curating in collaborative or site-specific contexts, where negotiating and celebrating relationships with audiences are at the core of projects.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Society of Artists or CWSA is an art society, that runs various social events and artistic programmes in Coventry, and outside and within the Warwickshire area of England.
| Artists |  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writers | |||||
| Ribbon and silk industry | |||||
| Medieval history |
| ||||
| Science and engineering | |||||
| Related |
| ||||
| |||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
