Wanted: Home with an art!

She traces the history of the present Art Gallery and describes some of the gems in the crown of Swindon's art collection.

LIFE begins at 40, or so the saying goes. But Swindon's only public art gallery is still waiting for a new lease of life as it celebrates this significant birthday.

The Swindon Museum and Art Gallery in Bath Road holds a world-renowned collection of modern British art. But much of it is hidden away from the public because of lack of space.

Pieces by Henry Moore, Lucien Freud and Lowry are among the collection's 300 works, which span the last 100 years.

The gallery was opened in September, 1964, by Sir Philip Morris,

To mark the 40th birthday of the art gallery section, 40 key works have been chosen to reflect different styles and developments in the country's modern art which have been put on show until October.

The exhibition features everything from portraits to pop art as well as landscapes and abstracts.

Museum assistant Richard Gagola has worked in several art galleries around the country and says Swindon's collection is something to boast about.

"It's pretty fantastic, we have a very good selection," he said.

In spite of its international standing, the collection as a whole is virtually inaccessible to the Swindon public.

Only a small number of works can be displayed because of limited space in the gallery, which is an extension to a 1830s building known as Apsley House.

The Georgian building was a private home of the Toomer family but was turned into a museum in the 1930s.

As the town's art collection grew, the museum was too small to house both the paintings and the exhibits.

So in 1964, the present L-shaped gallery along with storage space, lifts and a separate entrance staircase were built.

The gallery's curator Rosalyn Thomas says it's time to display the collection in a space that does it justice.

"The building was OK for 1964 but we need more room, more space to display pieces and store them as well," she said.

"In the 1960s a flat roof and glass walls were in style. But the building creates tricky environmental conditions, so we have to be very careful and monitor the temperatures constantly.

"It does limit what we can bring in from other galleries. And because of space we can only show our own collection by rotating things.

"It would be nice to put work in context. For example by having our Henry Moore displayed alongside another one of his paintings to show the relationship between the two."

The Fab Forty exhibition is the last one that Rosalyn will be overseeing.

Because of family commitments, she is taking up a post with Wiltshire County Council as an advisor to small museums.

"Working with paintings is great. I am going to miss that. Each time you see one, you see something different, even after four years.

"Our collection is in great demand, nationally and internationally. And it is still growing. We have already outgrown our space. We need a new gallery if we are to continue to grow."

In the early 1980s the need to relocate the collection had already become apparent. Then curator John Woodward said the museum was bursting at its seams.

He claimed a building five times the size of the Bath Road premises were needed to house the natural history and art collections.

Councillors considered renovating the Mechanics' Institute or creating a new museum on the Wyvern Theatre's car park, but nothing materialised.

Last year the council considered using the space at the former Railway Museum in Faringdon Road as a new home for the collection but later decided the space wasn't suitable.

Swindon Council is still eyeing up the Wyvern Theatre car park for a flagship central library as well as a museum and art gallery to create a cultural quarter for the town.

If that was to go ahead Bath Road museum would close and the collection would move to a new space large enough to have more on display.

The Art Gallery is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday 2-5pm. Telephone 01793 466556.