25 years | 25 objects | 25 artists
Join us as we celebrate 25 years of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum at the Royal Pump Rooms.
Episodes
wo Watchers on a Staircase, c.1960s
Cement fondu and metal
Given by Sarah Hosking, 2019
Alma Ramsey-Hosking studied at the Royal College of Art in London during the 1920s and later moved to Warwickshire where she and her husband, the artist Richard ‘Dick’ Hosking, contributed to the creative boom that blossomed in the county during the post-war years.
In this sculpture Ramsey-Hosking conveys a sense of movement through the d...
The Temptation of St Anthony, c.1640-1660
Oil on panel
Bequeathed by Mr. George Watson through the Art Fund, 2015
This painting was bequeathed, along with other Dutch Golden Age works, by George Watson (1927-2013) who was a Professor of English at Cambridge University.
The story of the temptation of St Anthony has its roots in the medieval period. It tells of how the hermit St Anthony withstood demonic apparitions and temptat...
Old Grey Mare with her Foal, date unknown
Oil on card
Purchased, 2009
Kemp-Welch is known for her paintings of animals, especially horses. As an illustrator she brought to life Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty – the Autobiography of a Horse and her skill and commitment to her subject resulted in her being elected the first president of the Society of Animal Painters in 1914. This small and quiet study of a horse and her foal can be...
Sketch for Leamingtonian Life, c. 1940
Gouache on hardboard
Given by Sebastian Tennant, 2021
Leamington Spa was one of the main bases for camouflage research during the Second World War and during the 1990s Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum began acquiring items relating to the work of camouflage staff.
During the Second World War, communal feeding stations, renamed British Restaurants by Winston Churchill, were set ...
Untitled, 2003
Painted steel
Given by the Friends of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (FLAG), 2019
When Terry Frost died, he was working on a commission for a large-scale sculpture for the new University Hospital of Coventry & Warwickshire, due to open in 2006. The financial implications were complicated and unfortunately this commission did not happen. The rights to the maquette were subsequently acquired by the...
Manipulator, c.1950
Bronze
Given by Jane Bridgeman and M.A. Michael, 2024
The sculptor John Bridgeman studied at the Colchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War. A conscientious objector, Bridgeman worked for the Civil Defence Service rescuing people bombed during the Blitz.
Bridgeman created figures with distorted heads some devil-like and others suggesting a...
Made about 1991
Given by Janet Alty in 1999
This is one of nine protest banners acquired in January 1999 as the Art Gallery & Museum team were preparing the new displays at the Royal Pump Rooms. It was made by children in protest to the Gulf War (1990-91). Due to its size, it is difficult to display often. It is still important to have it in the collection as an example of the strong anti-war sentiment at the time. Protest ...
Given by Christine Daly in 2010
The year before this photograph was taken Christine Daly contracted Polio. She spent several weeks in Warwick Hospital and also received hydrotherapy treatment at the Royal Pump Rooms. Christine shared her experience of being ill and the treatment she received with us in a recorded oral history interview. She also donated an arm support, which you can see in the Medical History Gallery.
Christine...
Made by Josiah Williams & Co., 1925
Purchased in 2002
Jennifer Chimes won the Miss Great Britain beauty contest in 1955, when she was aged 22. She went on to be a runner up in the Miss World competition and returned to Leamington a celebrity. Today, beauty pageants are considered by some to be sexist and an outdated form of entertainment. How can we explain objects like this in a way that is mindful of their past, but also ...
Made by Automotive Products about 1990
Given by John Hughes in 2007
This item was collected in the lead up to an exhibition about local working life, which ran in 2008. Temporary exhibitions often provide a focus for collecting activities and enable us to fill gaps in the collection. A big gap that we’re aware of is material relating to the lives of people who came to Leamington from Ireland and the Indian sub-continent to work...
Made in the mid-20th century
Given by Christopher Southorn in 2009
These are part of a group of 101 shoes, tools and accessories from Southorn’s shoemakers. The shop on the Parade was a mainstay of Leamington’s retail offer for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. During this time, the offer evolved, from providing handmade riding boots, to selling ready-to-wear shoes such as these. The stories of local businesses can tell us a...
Made in the late 20th century
Given by Mr and Mrs Mokrzycki in 2000
This is one of just a small number of objects we have in the collection representing the local Polish community. Jan and Magdelena Mokrzycki came to England after being displaced due to the Nazi and Soviet invasions of Poland. They met and married in London before settling in Kenilworth. Both were active members of the Leamington Polish community.
We are activ...
Made by 2005
Given by Jason Cadden in 2014
Jason Cadden was manager of Leamington FC from 2000 to 2009. His first signing was Josh Blake, who would become the club’s leading goal-scorer. Together the pair contributed to a period of great success for the Brakes, which saw them achieve five promotions and four league titles. During the 2005/06 season the town celebrated when the club reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup.
...Carved marble, made in the 19th century
Purchased in 2016
The Aylesford Well basin is one of the few items we have from the early days of the spa. It is only by chance that it survived. Local man Pavel Hodac noticed the basin sitting on top of the rubble pile when the Aylesford well house was demolished in 1960. He asked the demolition workers what would happen to it, and when told it would be discarded, he asked to have it. He...
Baden Baden: Bewegungsbad N135a, 1998
Photographic transparency and lightbox
Purchased, 2000
Yass was born in London and studied at the Slade School of Art, Goldsmiths College and in Berlin. Her distinctive hyper-real photographic style evolved accidentally when a colour film loaded incorrectly and was processed as a negative. In combining a positive image with a negative and installing the result onto a lightbox, Yass creat...
Drawing R1001, 1971
Gouache and pencil on paper and hardboard
Given by the Contemporary Art Society, 2000, in memory of Nancy Balfour, OBE
Bridget Riley was an icon of British art in the 1960s. She was a key member of the Op Art movement, which was concerned with evoking sensations of movement and had roots in the earlier twentieth century artistic groups Dada and the Bauhaus. Riley’s work creates fantastic optical effects an...
Compiled by Gertrude Hawkes, 1914-18
Given by Angela Azis in 2023
Most objects in our collection were donated by people with a link to the local area. Gertrude Hawkes was a volunteer nurse at the Warren VAD Hospital, Leamington, during the First World War. She bought this album at Burgis & Colbourne, a department store on the Parade, and her patients and colleagues filled it with personal messages, poems, photographs, and d...
Made about 1939
Given by Brenda Tai Layton in 2008
The doll was a gift to Brenda Tai Layton from Claire Aston, a family friend. Her mother, Enid Ferris, had seen the film Gone With the Wind on its release and loved it. It is thought that the doll is modelled on the character Prissy, the maid, who was played by Butterfly McQueen. Brenda had the doll for over 20 years before donating it to us. She said at the time, "Although I p...
Photograph of Miss Cox in male costume
Early 20th century
Untraced find
This photograph features Miss Cox, who donated items of costume in 1964. It was with our archived paperwork for many years but had never been accessioned itself. Young people on our recent Queertopia project explored Miss Cox’s interest in costume and male impersonation. This image of her dressed as an Albanian or Greek soldier was used in the display and o...
Made in 2022
Given by Alison Chantrey in 2022
Alison Chantrey was a volunteer at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, when Warwick District hosted the road cycling and bowls competitions. This hand, used to high-five spectators, was part of the uniform she wore. Collecting items like this will enable us to tell future generations of visitors about Leamington’s part in this significant event.
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!