Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
Encyclopedia
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (also known as the Herbert) is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry
, United Kingdom
.
It is named after Sir Alfred Herbert
, a Coventry industrialist and philanthropist whose benefactions 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 £20 million refurbishment.
Admission is free and The Herbert is run by a registered charity. It derives financial support from donations, sales at the museum shop, and hiring the buildings out. In 2010, the museum and gallery received over 300,000 visitors, making it one of the most popular free tourist attractions in the West Midlands.
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.Andrew Saint, ‘Gibson, Sir Donald Edward Evelyn (1908–1991)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
New plans for the museum were drawn up in 1952, and in May 1954 the foundation stone was laid by Herbert, who also donated a further £100,000 to the project. 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.
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
. During the refurbishment, it was considered that a painting by 17th-century artist Luca Giordano
was too large and fragile to move. Instead the 3.02 by 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.
In early 2008 the second phase was completed at a cost of £20 million. A new entrance on Bayley Lane was provided, along with a 500 sq metre glass-covered court extension. The extended buildings include a new café 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.
In July 2008, management of The Herbert was transferred to Coventry Heritage and Arts Trust, a registered charity
which also administers two additional local heritage sites: the Priory Visitor Centre for the Mediaeval remains of Coventry's first cathedral, and the Lunt Roman Fort situated three miles outside Coventry at Baginton
.
In 2010 319,000 people visited The Herbert, an increase of 45% from the year before, making it the sixth most popular free tourist attraction in the West Midlands. Between The Herbert's reopening in 2008 and March 2010, 500,000 people visited the museum.
The museum won the Guardian Family Friendly Award 2010. The same year, the gallery was shortlisted for the Art Fund Prize in recognition of its outstanding work in engaging new and diverse audiences.
The museum's notable collections include a costume collection dating from around 1800 to date, with the emphasis on 19th century women's wear. The museum is now concentrating on the acquisition of more modern clothes and items from different ethnic communities in Coventry.
Another collection represents the city's history as a centre for ribbon
making, which includes over 250 sample books, as well as woven Stevengraph
s - a form of silk
picture and bookmark - plus dye
r's samples, documents, woven badges and related machinery.
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.
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.
There are four temporary exhibition spaces, and the temporary exhibition programme includes exhibition from national and international galleries such as The British Museum
, V&A
, Southbank Centre and Natural History Museum
. 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
.
In 2010, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the museum's opening, the Herbert held several events throughout the year. In March more than 1,000 people attended a special event where ten objects, including a 16th-century tapestry and Shakespeare's ring, illustrating the history of Warwickshire, were put on display.
Herbert Media also specialises in making films and interactive materials for other museums and art galleries, and the service was rewarded for its high standard of work in the 2009 Godiva Awards, winning the Innovation in Business Practice category.
The facilities available at The Herbert include a large hireable exhibition space called 'The Studio', which is frequently used by the public and organisations. There is also a 'New Media Suite', with modern IT facilities, the Herbert Media
Recording Studio
(which comprises live and control rooms) and a MIDI Suite. Further Herbert Media facilities include Standard Definition and High Definition video editing suites, a corporate training room, and an arts information centre with additional resources and a reference library.
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
It is named after Sir Alfred Herbert
Alfred Herbert
Sir Alfred Edward Herbert KBE was an English industrialist who moved to Coventry in 1887 to manage a small engineering business which grew to become Alfred Herbert Limited, one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of machine tools.-Career:Born in Leicester and educated at...
, a Coventry industrialist and philanthropist whose benefactions 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 £20 million refurbishment.
Admission is free and The Herbert is run by a registered charity. It derives financial support from donations, sales at the museum shop, and hiring the buildings out. In 2010, the museum and gallery received over 300,000 visitors, making it one of the most popular free tourist attractions in the West Midlands.
History
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. Plans were drawn up, and building began the following year.The city's destruction during the Coventry Blitz
Coventry Blitz
The Coventry blitz was a series of bombing raids that took place in the English city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Second World War by the German Air Force...
meant construction was suspended with only the basement completed. City architect Donald Gibson
Donald Gibson (architect)
Sir Donald Edward Evelyn Gibson CBE was Coventry’s first City Architect and Planning Officer, from 1938-1954; most famous for the postwar redevelopment of Coventry city centre following the Coventry Blitz.-Education:...
'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.Andrew Saint, ‘Gibson, Sir Donald Edward Evelyn (1908–1991)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
New plans for the museum were drawn up in 1952, and in May 1954 the foundation stone was laid by Herbert, who also donated a further £100,000 to the project. 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.
The first phase of a two-phase refurbishment was completed in 2005 with £3 million of funds from Coventry City Council, Advantage West Midlands
Advantage West Midlands
-Advantage West Midlands – Regional Development Agency:Advantage West Midlands was established in 1999 as one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England. RDAs were created by the UK Government to drive sustainable economic development and social and physical regeneration through a...
and the European Regional Development Fund
European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund is a fund allocated by the European Union.-History:During the 1960s, the European Commission occasionally tried to establish a regional fund. Only Italy ever supported this, however, and nothing came of it. Britain made it an issue for their accession in...
. During the refurbishment, it was considered that a painting by 17th-century artist Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano
Luca Giordano was an Italian late Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain....
was too large and fragile to move. Instead the 3.02 by 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.
In early 2008 the second phase was completed at a cost of £20 million. A new entrance on Bayley Lane was provided, along with a 500 sq metre glass-covered court extension. The extended buildings include a new café 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.
In July 2008, management of The Herbert was transferred to Coventry Heritage and Arts Trust, a registered charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
which also administers two additional local heritage sites: the Priory Visitor Centre for the Mediaeval remains of Coventry's first cathedral, and the Lunt Roman Fort situated three miles outside Coventry at Baginton
Baginton
Baginton is a village and civil parish in the Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, and has a common border with the City of Coventry of the West Midlands county. With a population of 801 , Baginton village is four miles south of Coventry city centre and seven miles north of...
.
In 2010 319,000 people visited The Herbert, an increase of 45% from the year before, making it the sixth most popular free tourist attraction in the West Midlands. Between The Herbert's reopening in 2008 and March 2010, 500,000 people visited the museum.
The museum won the Guardian Family Friendly Award 2010. The same year, the gallery was shortlisted for the Art Fund Prize in recognition of its outstanding work in engaging new and diverse audiences.
Collections
Permanent gallery spaces include Sculpture, Old Masters, Art Since 1900, Elements (Natural History).The museum's notable collections include a costume collection dating from around 1800 to date, with the emphasis on 19th century women's wear. The museum is now concentrating on the acquisition of more modern clothes and items from different ethnic communities in Coventry.
Another collection represents the city's history as a centre for ribbon
Ribbon
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth ribbons, most commonly silk, are often used in connection with clothing, but are also applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolic purposes...
making, which includes over 250 sample books, as well as woven Stevengraph
Stevengraph
Stevengraphs are pictures woven from silk, originally created by Thomas Steven in the 19th century. They were popular collectable items during the revival of interest in Victoriana in the 1960s and 1970s.-Detail:...
s - a form of silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
picture and bookmark - plus dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
r's samples, documents, woven badges and related machinery.
The Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
granted nearly £200,000 to The Herbert and Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Wolverhampton Art Gallery
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 , and built on land provided by the Council...
in 2008 for acquisitions in relation to the theme of peace and reconciliation.
In 2011 the museum raised £12,000 to buy The Coventry Album, a collection of paintings by William Henry Brooke
William Henry Brooke
William Henry Brooke, who was born in 1772, was the son of the painter Henry Brooke and a nephew of Henry Brooke, the author of 'A Fool of Quality.' He exhibited portraits and figure subjects at the Royal Academy occasionally between 1810 and 1826, but is best known by hisillustrations to books :...
in 1819. The album is one of the most important collection of historic pictures of Coventry.
Associated Arts and Heritage sites
The Coventry Heritage and Arts Trust also administers two other local heritage sites:- The Lunt Roman Fort is located in BagintonBagintonBaginton is a village and civil parish in the Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, and has a common border with the City of Coventry of the West Midlands county. With a population of 801 , Baginton village is four miles south of Coventry city centre and seven miles north of...
, about 3 miles from Coventry city centre, where there is a modern partial reconstruction of the fort that was established there in AD 60. - The Priory Visitor Centre is located in Priory Row, Coventry city centre. This boasts the remains of medieval buildings from Coventry's first cathedral.
Temporary exhibitions and special projects
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.There are four temporary exhibition spaces, and the temporary exhibition programme includes exhibition from national and international galleries such as The British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, V&A
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, Southbank Centre and Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
. 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
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
and Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
.
In 2010, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the museum's opening, the Herbert held several events throughout the year. In March more than 1,000 people attended a special event where ten objects, including a 16th-century tapestry and Shakespeare's ring, illustrating the history of Warwickshire, were put on display.
Herbert Media
Herbert Media is the in-house media service at The Herbert, and 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. It also coordinates 'community response' films to exhibitions within the gallery as a way of further connecting art to the community.Herbert Media also specialises in making films and interactive materials for other museums and art galleries, and the service was rewarded for its high standard of work in the 2009 Godiva Awards, winning the Innovation in Business Practice category.
The facilities available at The Herbert include a large hireable exhibition space called 'The Studio', which is frequently used by the public and organisations. There is also a 'New Media Suite', with modern IT facilities, the Herbert Media
Herbert Media
Herbert Media is the in-house media service at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry, United Kingdom. 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.Herbert Media...
Recording Studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
(which comprises live and control rooms) and a MIDI Suite. Further Herbert Media facilities include Standard Definition and High Definition video editing suites, a corporate training room, and an arts information centre with additional resources and a reference library.