Chippenham Museum is hosting “an incredibly important” new exhibition which is set to attract art lovers from all over.

‘Wiltshire on Paper: Post-War Prints from the Bath Academy of Art’ runs until April 2 and is a celebration of post-war printmaking from a unique time in Wiltshire’s creative history.

On display in Chippenham for the first time, the exhibition features recent additions to Chippenham Museum’s art collection from two collectors, Dr Mark Golder and Brian Thompson, who have given the museum 60 highly-prized prints in memory of their friend, Chippenham resident Arthur Norman.

Visitors can enjoy works by nationally recognised artists including Howard Hodgkin, Clifford & Rosemary Ellis and Anish Kapoor in the first of three exhibitions of a century in print to be staged at the museum. T

he second, to be held in the summer, is ‘Robin Tanner: From Goldsmiths to the Great Depression’, which explores the formative years of this celebrated local artist, etcher and teacher.

The third, to open in the winter, will feature contemporary print-making, much of it from Corsham.

Alan Fuller, collections and exhibitions officer at the museum, helped to curate the exhibitions, which have taken two years to put together.

Mr Fuller said the exhibition was “incredibly important” in both reflecting the social history of the area and highlighting print which is often overlooked as an art form.

“We will have some really big names on show, the Bath academy was such a who’s-who of modern British art in the post-war period,” he said.

Melissa Barnett head of heritage and museum services, said “Chippenham is incredibly lucky to be the new home of this important art collection, only made possible through the amazingly generous Golder Thompson Gift in memory of their friend Arthur Norman. We can’t wait to share it.”

Cllr James Bradbury, chair of Chippenham Town Council amenities, culture and leisure committee, said “We are extremely proud of our exhibition programme. The museum is free entry, and we encourage everyone to visit and enjoy discovering their local area.”