An Introduction To The Clive Beardsmore Collection

The 2015 interventions into the Garman Ryan Collection are a selection from a substantial new donation of artworks to The New Art Gallery Walsall by private collector Clive Beardsmore. Interventions from this Gift are on display throughout the first and second floor galleries, in the themed context of the Garman Ryan rooms, and feature examples of work by leading Modern British Artists such as Edward Bawden, John Bratby, William Gear, Laura Knight, Graham Sutherland and Keith Vaughan, all artists previously not represented in our collections.

This introduction highlights works from the gift which strengthen our existing holding of work by artists including Gillian Ayres, Eileen Cooper, David Hockney, John Piper and Joe Tilson, and complement the themes of the Garman Ryan galleries, alongside works by West Midlands based artists, such as Paul Bartlett and Peter Shread, highlighting the different facets and exploring the nature of building a private collection.