Collected by the first curators of the museum, founded by Sir Merton and Lady Russell-Coates, this display brings together a selection of early acquisitions and rarely-seen paintings which illustrate the story of the museum and the art of the 1930s and 40s.

The exhibition features a variety of portraits and war paintings by popular artists and ACS members Stanley Spencer, Graham Sutherland, CRW Nevinson, William Rothenstein and Laura Knight, among other members. While the Russell-Coates collection initially focused on artwork by local artists such as ACS members Henry Lamb and Maxwell Armfield, the success of their initial local acquisitions encouraged the curators to expand the collection to include other examples of work by emerging Modernist artists.

 
Until 24 April
Rusell-Coates Art Gallery and Museum, East Cliff Promenade, Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 3AA