Purpose built in the style of a French château, The Bowes Museum is located in the historic market town of Barnard Castle.Opened to the public in 1892, the Museum bears the name of its founders: the businessman, and son of the 10th Earl of Strathmore, John Bowes and his French actress wife, Joséphine.The couple were devoted to each other and created the Museum to share their passion for art and to enrich the lives of people in the area they loved, John’s family home in Teesdale, County Durham. The grade 1 listed building was designed under John’s instruction by a collaboration between British and French architects to make Joséphine feel at home in England. Sadly neither of them lived to see it completed.The magnificent Museum houses their extensive and diverse collection, over 30,000 items in total, ranging from silver and metals to furniture, old masters, sculpture and ceramics, as well as fashion and textiles and its designated status is in recognition of its outstanding collection.The Museum sits in 20 acres of grade 2 listed parkland, surrounded by woodlands, a formal garden and nature walks. It also holds the North of England’s most important collection of European fine and decorative arts and the UK’s largest collection of Spanish paintings outside London or Edinburgh. It has an internationally acclaimed exhibition programme and over 100 events a year with more than 100,000 people visiting. The museum holds temporary exhibitions, and has shown works by Monet, Raphael, Turner, William Morris, and Toulouse-Lautrec. The BBC announced in 2013 that a Portrait of Olivia Porter was a previously unknown Anthony van Dyck painting. It had been found in the Bowes Museum storeroom by art historian Dr. Bendor Grosvenor whilst surfing an art related web site. Christopher Brown, director of the Ashmolean Museum, confirmed it was a van Dyck after it had been restored.Until recently the Museum’s life size silver swan automaton was one of its major attractions but its lack of use during the Coved pandemic caused it to seize and its future is dependant on the Museum securing a funding package to conserve, preserve and redisplay this iconic object. However, despite this setback there are other delightful and amazing working automatons’ on display at the time of my visit.The specialist skills of the Museum’s conservation department are also in demand, and include working on commissions for other institutions and individuals, and offering advice, guidance and practical support for the conservation and preservation of paper and textile based objects.Most recently the team completed a project for Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery; conserving, repairing and helping to mount around 40 costumes and accessories on acrylic mannequins, as well as continuing to advise on environmental controls and on-going care of the items.The Museum has recently put in place a five-year business plan and is currently creating a transformation project to strengthen it for the future. It is applying to the relevant funding bodies to bolster its resilience and to ensure its continued success for future generations to enjoy.
Aerial and Silver Swan clips by Bowes Museum.
Bowes Museum Website;
thebowesmuseum.org.uk/:
Music
Wings by Thomas Bergerson
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13 янв 2024
