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Collections

British Life and Landscape

An important part of the Herbert's visual art collection is the British Life and Landscape collection, started by the gallery's first Art Director, John Hewitt, in the late 1950s. 

Hewitt wanted to collect art which, in his words, was 'well within the experiences of everyone'. The paintings he collected show British towns and countryside, as well as ordinary people going about their daily lives. They include key works by major artists, such as a view of Ebbw Vale by LS Lowry, Stanley Spencer’s last painting, and paintings by Carel Weight, David Bomberg, Paul Nash, John Bratby, Joan Eardley, James Fitton and Ruskin Spear. We recently acquired a view of Tile Hill by the Coventry artist George Shaw, painted in 2003. This part of the collection is still very important to the Herbert today.

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