The New Art Gallery Walsall

The New Art Gallery Walsall opened in February 2000 in the heart of Walsall town centre. A unique civic building for Walsall, the gallery is also a rare example of a brand-new building for the millennial arts.

The £21 million world class gallery was made possible by Arts Lottery funding and commissioned by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, which wanted nothing but the best for this vibrant West Midlands town.

On permanent display is The Garman Ryan Collection which was donated to the people of Walsall by Lady Kathleen Garman, widow of sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein, in 1973. This unique collection is displayed in a two storey house consisting of a series of intimate, interconnecting rooms, each with a window, over the first and second floors of the gallery.

Works by well-known European artists, including Monet, Rembrandt, Constable, van Gogh and Picasso, are displayed alongside beautiful artworks from many different cultures across the world.

The galleries chart the long, productive and often controversial career of Jacob Epstein, and serve as a memorial to the Epstein's extraordinary circle of family and friends - Augustus John, Modigliani, Gaudier-Brzeska and Epstein's one-time son-in-law Lucian Freud.

The Gallery is also home to a Discovery Gallery at ground floor level, which creates an introduction to a three storey children's house, including an artists studio and activity room. The temporary exhibition galleries on the third floor are dedicated to exhibiting the best of contemporary and historic art.

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