Holburne Art Museum
Great Pulteney Street
Bath
BA2 4DB

The Holburne Museum houses the superb art collection formed by Sir William Holburne in 19th century Bath. Widely known for his silver and Old Master paintings, Sir William also collected Italian bronzes, such as the famous Susini once owned by King Louis XIV, maiolica, porcelain, glass, furniture and portrait miniatures.

The core of Sir William Holburne's bequest is made up of some lovely Italian pictures, mostly from the Baroque period which was fashionable in his own time, but fell from favour towards the end of the nineteenth century. Most outstanding is the exceptional collection of Dutch pictures, whose number and range are remarkable for a museum of this size, forming the most significant group of seventeenth century Dutch paintings in the West of England. Even though most of the Dutch pictures are of a small 'cabinet' size, these delicate still lifes, pastoral landscapes, portraits and seascapes were crammed into Holburne's study and Dining Room in great profusion.

Today the Holburne is best known for its superb British paintings, which have come to the museum since Sir William Holburne's day from later gifts and bequests, including portraits by Gainsborough, Ramsay, Zoffany and Stubbs, and landscapes by Turner and Guardi. Many of the eighteenth-century British works were made by artists who worked in Bath during its Georgian prime as a centre of artistic excellence.

The Art Museum is now closed to the public. A development programme of refurbishment and extension supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund is scheduled to be finished in 2011.

Royal West of England Academy
Queen's Road
Clifton
Bristol
BS8 1PX

The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is one of only five Royal Academies of Art in the UK. It is a registered charity which has been self-supporting for over 150 years and possesses an outstanding Grade II* listed building, galleries and permanent fine art collection. The RWA has HM Queen Elizabeth II as its patron.

The RWA is an established venue for the fine arts and embraces an artistic awareness of the widest nature. The art exhibition programme provides a showcase for one man and mixed exhibitions in a variety of media, which attract large numbers of visitors nation-wide.

The Academy is open every day except Easter Sunday and 25 December - 3 January.

The RWA has its background in the early nineteenth century when a group of artists in Bristol formed an association known as the Bristol Society of Artists. These were mostly landscape painters and many were well known such as William Muller, Francis Danby, J.B. Pyne and John Syer. In 1844, when the Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts was founded, the Bristol Society of Artists was incorporated into it. At this time the President and committee were predominantly its patrons, rather than its artists.

When Ellen Sharples, an artist associated with this group and a member of a portrait painting family, died in 1849 she left £2,000 to the Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts. This sum, together with an earlier gift from her and money raised by other art supporters, enabled the erection of a fine building in 1858 - Bristol's first Art Gallery.

A school of art was established in 1853, known as the Bristol School of Practical Art supported by artist members and studio space was later provided by the Academy. From 1936 to 1969 it was known as the West of England College of Art. Since then a school of art has always occupied part of the Academy premises. Education continues to be important at the RWA.

Artists showing at Red Rag who have also exhibited modern art works at the RWA include: Elizabeth Blackadder, David Cobley, Mary Fedden and Alfred Stockham

Newlyn Art Gallery
New Road
Newlyn
Cornwall
TR18 5PZ

The Newlyn Art Gallery has a 112 year history of developing regionally significant contemporary art projects. Over the past 20 years the level of ambition within the organisation has increased very significantly, to the point where the gallery consistently delivers nationally significant programmes of exhibitions and education projects.

The gallery was previously limited by its building, necessitating a redevelopment in order to realise its plans to showcase the very best of national and international contemporary art. The newly refurbished gallery reopened on 7th July 2007, alongside major new art space The Exchange, in the heart of Penzance.

The Newlyn School of Artists (NSA) is a collective of over one hundred professional artists who either live in the South West or have strong connections with the area. Founded in 1895 to exhibit the work of contemporary Newlyn School artists, the NSA continues to be a forum for a wide diversity of current modern art practice that includes painting, sculpture, photography, video, performance and installation work. Based at Newlyn Art Gallery the NSA exhibits within the region and beyond; shows which have a deservedly high reputation. It has presented art work in London, Bristol, Brittany, Cuxhaven and Tuscany.

Tate St Ives
Porthmeor Beach
St Ives
Cornwall
TR26 1TG

The Tate Gallery displays modern and contemporary art, often created in or associated with Cornwall. The gallery location in St Ives, with dramatic views across the town and harbour to the east and Porthmeor Beach to the north, provides a unique opportunity to view art work in the surroundings in which, in many cases, it was actually created.

Since the late nineteenth century two 'schools' of art have grown up in west Cornwall, at Newlyn and St Ives. Before Tate St Ives opened in 1993, there had been no public art gallery dedicated to the distinctive modern art of St Ives. Tate St Ives presents twentieth-century art in the context of Cornwall. At the heart of the programme of displays and activities is a body of work for which the town of St Ives is internationally known - the modernist art produced by artists associated with the town and its surrounding area from the 1920s onwards. The gallery also presents work by contemporary artists, often responding to the gallery's displays or to the broader Cornish scene. The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden opened in 1976 and is part of Tate St Ives.

Art shows and exhibitions at Tate St Ives change regularly, allowing a different selection from Tate's extensive collection of St Ives art to be shown each year. In addition, temporary art exhibitions focus on a particular artist or theme. Through it's the Tate St Ives Artist Residency and programme of artists' projects, the Gallery encourages and enables the creation of new work relating to the local environment. Tate continues to acquire work for its collections, and remains committed to showing works associated with Cornwall in both London and Liverpool as well as in St Ives. Moreover, the links between the arts and artists of west Cornwall and other centres around the world mean that Tate St Ives also displays related works by non-Cornish artists.