Collections

Art

Snowdonia, 1945-1959 by John Piper (© Tate, London, Marlborough Gallery and The Crown)

The Art collection covers a wide range of art and craft work, and is especially known for its 20th century British art and tin glaze earthenware.

Important local artists of national standing such as Stanley and Gilbert Spencer and John Piper are represented, and there are pieces by significant artists who have taught fine art in Reading including Robert Gibbings, Alan Seaby, Jean Spencer and Stephen Buckley. The archive of Edwardian British sculptor John Tweed is also significant, the highlight being his correspondence with, and works by, Auguste Rodin.

The oldest pieces in the collection are Reading Corporation's Tudor and Stuart portraits. Particularly striking is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I.

The Museum has a fine collection of tin-glazed ceramics by Alan Caiger-Smith, who set up a pottery at Aldermaston in 1950s. Many of these pieces were acquired in partnership with the Reading Foundation for Art. The Foundation's collection is cared for by the Museum and includes works by important Modern British artists such as Paul Nash, Mary Fedden, Julian Trevelyan and Terry Frost. The Foundation actively collects art works that reflecting the direction of British Art since the Second World War and contributes towards acquisitions by the Museum.

The Atrium and Window Galleries feature permanent displays of sculpture and ceramics, while the John Madejski Art Gallery has a programme of temporary exhibitions, most using art works from the Museum collections.