From private to civic: the diverse origins of the municipal art gallery movement

Abstract

While early regional galleries were the product of private initiative, the growth of municipal government in the 1840s encouraged several towns to develop art galleries as both mass educational tools and symbols of their political independence and cultural sophistication. In the 1850s the Salford Museum and Art Gallery was so successful its visitor numbers rivalled those of the British Museum and it was an initiative soon copied by neighbouring towns of Warrington and Stockport. This chapter explores the people and ideologies behind these pioneering galleries and how their values were reflected in exhibitions and patterns of collecting. It also reveals how they became quickly outdated as fashions and popular culture changed.