15289/01WORKS of art at Wiltshire Heritage Museum have to be kept under wraps because there is no funding to create display space for them, the national director of an art fund said yesterday.

David Barrie, director of the National Art Collections Fund, was in Devizes to launch a new book, Art in Wiltshire by Richard Hatchwell, which features many paintings that the public don't normally see.

Mr Barrie told an invited audience at the museum in Long Street that regional museums face major problems rooted in inadequate funding and, as a result, there is now a crisis in relation to the acquisition of new works of art.

He believes that local museums need the finance necessary to be bold and positive about acquiring works to maintain their collections as living entities.

"When it comes to making purchases, museums often have limited or non-existent funds," he said. "This year, we plan to put pressure on the Government to support local museum acquisitions through increased funding and more tax incentives."

Over the past 150 years, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, which owns and runs the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, has built up a collection of more than 20,000 watercolours, drawings, oil paintings and engravings, but because of the limitations of space at the museum, only a small number of these works are on public view.

The collection includes works by Henry Moore, John Piper, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Richard Dadd, as well as 600 watercolours of Wiltshire churches and country houses in Wiltshire by John Buckler.

Art in Wiltshire, which has been published by the society, includes a number of significant pictures, selected by Mr Hartwell, a former keeper of prints and drawings for the society, and a selection of them form an exhibition at the museum, on until March 20.

Mr Barrie said: "Art in Wiltshire is a special book, reflecting the extraordinary cultural history of the county. In recent years the Art Fund has been able to support the acquisition of a substantial number of works for this county collection, and I am delighted to see several of them represented here."

Mr Hatchwell added: "This book confirms the wealth and importance of this collection it will encourage readers to learn more about the county from its rich artistic heritage."

Mr Hatchwell has selected 185 of the most significant prints, paintings and drawings associated with Wiltshire, including an anonymous view of Bradenstoke Priory, near Lyneham, which was dismantled in 1930 and taken to St Donat's Castle in Glamorgan by the American press baron, William Randolph Hearst.

Art in Wiltshire is available from Wiltshire Heritage Museum, price £40 or £30 in paperback.