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Secrets of The Fox Collection

See beautiful landscape and still life paintings from the 19th century, on display for the first time in decades thanks to extensive conservation. Enjoy another new display from Barnsley’s impressive art collections.

After decades of waiting patiently in store, the five landscape and still life paintings now on display have undergone extensive conservation treatment to reveal vibrant colours and beautiful detail. They are part of a collection of paintings brought together by James and Jane Fox and gifted by their children to the Cooper Gallery in 1934. The collection is full of imagery of the natural world, including flowers, fruit, mountains and streams.

Conserving these paintings was a leap into the unknown. All the paintings needed layers of surface dirt and old varnish removing. Some had been covered in tissue in the past to preserve the surface paint, presumably because of historic damage. Painstaking conservation treatment to the paintings by Critchlow & Kukkonen and to the frames by Mike Howden has revealed some real treasures of the 19^th century. 

The conservation work has been funded by the Trustees of the Cooper Gallery through the legacy of Mrs Audrey Norfolk Clark and by Mr Bill Newman in memory of his wife Pat Newman.

See these paintings on display the next time you visit or view these and more of our collections.