25 years | 25 objects | 25 artists

The Temptation of St Anthony, c.1640-1660

Oil on panel

Bequeathed by Mr. George Watson through the Art Fund, 2015

This painting was bequeathed, along with other Dutch Golden Age works, by George Watson (1927-2013) who was a Professor of English at Cambridge University.

The story of the temptation of St Anthony has its roots in the medieval period. It tells of how the hermit St Anthony withstood demonic apparitions and temptat...

Old Grey Mare with her Foal, date unknown

Oil on card

Purchased, 2009

Kemp-Welch is known for her paintings of animals, especially horses. As an illustrator she brought to life Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty – the Autobiography of a Horse and her skill and commitment to her subject resulted in her being elected the first president of the Society of Animal Painters in 1914. This small and quiet study of a horse and her foal can be...

Sketch for Leamingtonian Life, c. 1940

Gouache on hardboard 

Given by Sebastian Tennant, 2021

Leamington Spa was one of the main bases for camouflage research during the Second World War and during the 1990s Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum began acquiring items relating to the work of camouflage staff.

During the Second World War, communal feeding stations, renamed British Restaurants by Winston Churchill, were set ...

Untitled, 2003  

Painted steel

Given by the Friends of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (FLAG), 2019

When Terry Frost died, he was working on a commission for a large-scale sculpture for the new University Hospital of Coventry & Warwickshire, due to open in 2006. The financial implications were complicated and unfortunately this commission did not happen. The rights to the maquette were subsequently acquired by the...

Manipulator, c.1950

Bronze

Given by Jane Bridgeman and M.A. Michael,  2024

The sculptor John Bridgeman studied at the Colchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War. A conscientious objector, Bridgeman worked for the Civil Defence Service rescuing people bombed during the Blitz.  

Bridgeman created figures with distorted heads some devil-like and others suggesting a...

Made about 1991

Given by Janet Alty in 1999

This is one of nine protest banners acquired in January 1999 as the Art Gallery & Museum team were preparing the new displays at the Royal Pump Rooms. It was made by children in protest to the Gulf War (1990-91). Due to its size, it is difficult to display often. It is still important to have it in the collection as an example of the strong anti-war sentiment at the time. Protest ...

Given by Christine Daly in 2010

The year before this photograph was taken Christine Daly contracted Polio. She spent several weeks in Warwick Hospital and also received hydrotherapy treatment at the Royal Pump Rooms. Christine shared her experience of being ill and the treatment she received with us in a recorded oral history interview. She also donated an arm support, which you can see in the Medical History Gallery.

Christine...

Made by Josiah Williams & Co., 1925

Purchased in 2002

Jennifer Chimes won the Miss Great Britain beauty contest in 1955, when she was aged 22. She went on to be a runner up in the Miss World competition and returned to Leamington a celebrity. Today, beauty pageants are considered by some to be sexist and an outdated form of entertainment. How can we explain objects like this in a way that is mindful of their past, but also ...

Made by Automotive Products about 1990

Given by John Hughes in 2007

This item was collected in the lead up to an exhibition about local working life, which ran in 2008. Temporary exhibitions often provide a focus for collecting activities and enable us to fill gaps in the collection. A big gap that we’re aware of is material relating to the lives of people who came to Leamington from Ireland and the Indian sub-continent to work...

Made in the mid-20th century

Given by Christopher Southorn in 2009

These are part of a group of 101 shoes, tools and accessories from Southorn’s shoemakers. The shop on the Parade was a mainstay of Leamington’s retail offer for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. During this time, the offer evolved, from providing handmade riding boots, to selling ready-to-wear shoes such as these. The stories of local businesses can tell us a...

Made in the late 20th century

Given by Mr and Mrs Mokrzycki in 2000

This is one of just a small number of objects we have in the collection representing the local Polish community. Jan and Magdelena Mokrzycki came to England after being displaced due to the Nazi and Soviet invasions of Poland. They met and married in London before settling in Kenilworth. Both were active members of the Leamington Polish community. 

We are activ...

Made by 2005

Given by Jason Cadden in 2014

Jason Cadden was manager of Leamington FC from 2000 to 2009. His first signing was Josh Blake, who would become the club’s leading goal-scorer. Together the pair contributed to a period of great success for the Brakes, which saw them achieve five promotions and four league titles. During the 2005/06 season the town celebrated when the club reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup. 

Carved marble, made in the 19th century

Purchased in 2016

The Aylesford Well basin is one of the few items we have from the early days of the spa. It is only by chance that it survived. Local man Pavel Hodac noticed the basin sitting on top of the rubble pile when the Aylesford well house was demolished in 1960. He asked the demolition workers what would happen to it, and when told it would be discarded, he asked to have it. He...

Baden Baden: Bewegungsbad N135a, 1998

Photographic transparency and lightbox

Purchased, 2000 

Yass was born in London and studied at the Slade School of Art, Goldsmiths College and in Berlin. Her distinctive hyper-real photographic style evolved accidentally when a colour film loaded incorrectly and was processed as a negative. In combining a positive image with a negative and installing the result onto a lightbox, Yass creat...

Drawing R1001, 1971

Gouache and pencil on paper and hardboard

Given by the Contemporary Art Society, 2000, in memory of Nancy Balfour, OBE

Bridget Riley was an icon of British art in the 1960s. She was a key member of the Op Art movement, which was concerned with evoking sensations of movement and had roots in the earlier twentieth century artistic groups Dada and the Bauhaus. Riley’s work creates fantastic optical effects an...

Compiled by Gertrude Hawkes, 1914-18

Given by Angela Azis in 2023

Most objects in our collection were donated by people with a link to the local area. Gertrude Hawkes was a volunteer nurse at the Warren VAD Hospital, Leamington, during the First World War. She bought this album at Burgis & Colbourne, a department store on the Parade, and her patients and colleagues filled it with personal messages, poems, photographs, and d...

Made about 1939 

Given by Brenda Tai Layton in 2008

The doll was a gift to Brenda Tai Layton from Claire Aston, a family friend. Her mother, Enid Ferris, had seen the film Gone With the Wind on its release and loved it. It is thought that the doll is modelled on the character Prissy, the maid, who was played by Butterfly McQueen. Brenda had the doll for over 20 years before donating it to us. She said at the time, "Although I p...

Photograph of Miss Cox in male costume

Early 20th century

Untraced find

This photograph features Miss Cox, who donated items of costume in 1964. It was with our archived paperwork for many years but had never been accessioned itself. Young people on our recent Queertopia project explored Miss Cox’s interest in costume and male impersonation. This image of her dressed as an Albanian or Greek soldier was used in the display and o...