Towner Eastbourne

The Towner Gallery was established as a project in 1920 following the death that year of Alderman John Chisholm Towner, who left 22 paintings, £6,000 and instructions for the establishment of an art gallery. This bequest was made for the benefit of the people of Eastbourne; the undertaking was entrusted to a local group of supporters and the local council.

The Towner Collection is one of the most significant public art collections in the South East of England. It holds more than 5,000 works of art by historic, modern, and contemporary artists including Lawrence Alma-Tadema, John Gascoigne Lake, Vanessa Bell, David Bomberg, Alan Davie, Tacita Dean, Olafur Eliasson, Anya Gallaccio, Thomas Jones, Peter Liversidge, Harold Mockford, Henry Moore, Cedric Morris, William Nicholson, Julian Opie, Ian Potts, Victor Pasmore, Pablo Picasso, Eric Ravilious, Eric Slater, Wolfgang Tillmans, Alfred Wallis, Christopher Wood, Joseph Wright of Derby and Carol Wyatt. The initial collection consisted mainly of Victorian narrative painting, especially pictures of…