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Adopt a Watts

We invite you to 'Adopt A Watts' and support the care of your favourite work of art by contributing to both its conservation and the preservation of the entire collection. The cost of adoption rights varies depending on the size of work and the amount of conservation required. We would be happy to discuss this with you further. Adoptions from groups, organisations and individuals are welcome.

Conserving the Collection

Watts Gallery is a registered charity and museum that was opened in 1904 to house the studio collection of the famous Victorian painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts OM RA (1817-1904). The collection ranges from portrait miniatures to full-scale plaster models for Watts’s monumental bronze statues. Most significantly, it contains some of GF Watts’s greatest symbolist paintings and a wide range of landscapes, portraits, drawings and sculpture.The Gallery has existed for more than 100 years without public funding or investment. A lack of resources has made it impossible to protect fully this important collection of art by a major 19th century artist.The Hope Project is being undertaken to restore and refurbish the Gallery and ensure the collection is appropriately housed with proper environmental controls. A key aspect of this project is conserving the paintings, drawings and sculpture to make them more accessible and to safeguard them for future visitors.The conservation task is mammoth and in many cases, urgent. In total there are about 250 oil paintings, 700 sculptures and ceramics and 700 drawings, almost all of which require attention. There are still many important pictures in our store desperately in need of conservation before they can be put on public display.

To recognise your contribution we will:

Grant adoption for five years

Place your name near the artwork in the Gallery

Acknowledge the gift in Gallery newsletters and Annual Reports

Invite you to be present for the artwork’s unveiling when it returns to the Gallery

During the restoration of the Gallery, works will potentially be taken on tour or stored. Acknowledgement of the gift would be included in an exhibition catalogue. Other options may be explored for exclusive access to the painting.

For further information please contact the Director or Appeal Coordinator
director@wattsgallery.org.uk
appeal@wattsgallery.org.uk
or call us on 01483 810 235