| AdminHistory | The Art Gallery Purchase Committee was formed in April 1881. The committee was made up of representatives of the Free Libraries Committee, the Mr Tangye and the mayor R. Chamberlain (as representatives of the Special Art Gallery Fund), members of the Royal Society of Artists, the head of the School of Art, the Trustees of the Public Gallery Picture Fund, plus two representatives of the town's artisans. The main functions of the committee were to proceed with the formation of a collection of art for the new gallery, raising money by public subscriptions or other sources to fund the purchase or commissioning of works of art to be displayed in the new gallery, the foundation stone for which had already been laid on 19 June 1881. A sum of £50,000 to purchase art had already been offered by Messrs Tangye if this sum was matched with public subscriptions. The mayor encouraged the wealthier citizens of the town to donate, offering £500 of his own money; a week later £17,000 had been raised. The collections expanded considerably over the next few years, with commissions for or purchases of works by Robert Burne-Jones, W.J. Muller, David Cox, Albert Moore, William Thomas Roden and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. |