Nervous museum staff had their fingers crossed at a recent auction as they made a bid for a Turner watercolour of Hastings beach. Eventually the hammer came down at £210,000 and the painting was sold to the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery (HMAG).
The bid was made possible with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Art Fund and other local donors including Hastings Borough Council and the Museums Association.
The painting, entitled ‘Hastings: Fish Market on the Sands, Early Morning’ shows our fishing beach as it was two hundred years ago, and is the largest of Turner’s ten known watercolours of Hastings.
Council leader Peter Pragnell said:
"I am delighted that we were able to acquire this fantastic painting. We will be very proudly displaying it in the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery for everyone to enjoy. We were only able to buy this piece thanks to the support of all our funding partners and we're very pleased we were able to do so."
The painting will have pride of place when the museum reopens following its million pound refurbishment next year. The refit will include a new two-storey extension, improved access for wheelchair users and an expanded entrance foyer.
For more information please visit www.hmag.org.uk
This new exhibition will display local children’s investigations into the history of their schools. Pupils have used the museum’s archives and collections to research their school’s past and see how it’s changed over the years. Students have produced displays of their findings, and these will be exhibited at the Old Town Hall Museum between 8 July and 13 August.
Produced using a wide range of materials and creativity, the displays will be supported by a digital slide show of more extensive archive material about the town's schools and an area for the project will be set aside on the Hastings Museums and Art Gallery website, www.hmag.org.uk
The participating schools are:
Dudley Infants School
Little Ridge CP School
St Mary Star of the Sea RC School
William Parker Sports College
This project is supported by the Magdalen and Lasher Charitable Trust
Back to top of page...
< JITG | Community Strategy update >
This page last updated: 12/07/2006