Reading Foundation for Art is an English charity registered in 1974. Its main purpose is to build an art collection for the people of

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

History

The foundation was formed in 1974 following a donation by an anonymous benefactor. The first

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

s registered it as a

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

with the stated aim of purchasing works of art or other objects of archaeological, historical or scientific interest for the benefit of the public. These works are held in the permanent collection of

Reading Borough Council Reading Borough Council is the local authority for Reading in the county of Berkshire, England. Reading has had a council since at least 1542, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1998, the council has been a unitary authority, be ...

Reading Museum Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing ...

. The foundation also acquires works by donation and provides part funding for purchases made directly by the museum.

Contents of the collection

The Foundation now owns over one hundred and twenty works of art including * Paintings by Mary Fedden, Paul Nash and

Julian Trevelyan Julian Otto Trevelyan (20 February 1910 – 12 July 1988) was an English artist and poet. Early life Trevelyan was the only child to survive to adulthood of Robert Calverley Trevelyan and his wife Elizabeth van der Hoeven. His grandfather wa ...

* Sculptures by

Maggi Hambling Margaret J. Hambling (born 23 October 1945) is a British artist. Though principally a painter, her best-known public works are the sculptures '' A Conversation with Oscar Wilde'' and '' A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft'' in London, and the ...

and

John Tweed John Tweed (21 January 1869 – 12 November 1933) was a Scottish sculptor. Early life Tweed was born on January 21, 1869, at 16 Great Portland Street, Glasgow, and studied at the Glasgow School of Art. He then trained with Hamo Thornycroft ...

* Prints by

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1912 – 26 January 2004) was one of the foremost British Abstract art, abstract artists, a member of the influential Penwith Society of Arts. Early life Wilhelmina Barns-Grah ...

, Sir Peter Blake, Sir Terry Frost and John Piper * Ceramics and photographic collections

References

{{art-org-stub Charities based in Berkshire Organizations established in 1974