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Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery hosts a lively programme of temporary exhibitions alongside exciting displays from the permanent collection.

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The museum welcomes visits by appointment to view the reserve collections or for research purposes. Please contact us for an appointment.

Museum said “arrivederci” to its Turners – but not for long..........

 

Famous watercolours from Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery have made a real impression in Italy.

The Museum & Art Gallery has lent three works of art from its collection of watercolours by JMW Turner (1775 – 1851) to a major Italian exhibition, ‘Turner e gli Impressionisti’, Turner and the Impressionists.

The Santa Giulia Museum in Brescia, Northern Italy have included Shoreham, The Falls of Terni and Tynemouth Priory in a landmark exhibition which has been so successful that it has been extended for two weeks over the Easter holidays.

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery is amongst some of the most prestigious galleries and museums in the world to take part in the exhibition which features 35 paintings by Turner and 150 Impressionist paintings from 95 international museums and galleries across 18 countries.

The Santa Giulia Museum has covered the cost for a member of staff to travel back with the treasured watercolours when they are collected and brought back to Blackburn at the end of the exhibition (Tuesday 17th April).

Across the North West, the Italians also borrowed paintings from the University of Liverpool Art Gallery and The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.

 

Vanessa Mitchell, Keeper of Art said: “We were delighted to lend the Turners to this magnificent exhibition in Italy. It has put Blackburn with Darwen on the map and hopefully surprised international visitors to the exhibition, of Blackburn with Darwen’s rich and important art collection”.