The trustees of Gainsborough’s House, the childhood home of Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88) that became a museum in 1961, are hoping that a proposed extension will help to put the institution and the market town of Sudbury, in Suffolk, on the international art museum map.
The UK museum wants to acquire an adjacent property, which will be demolished to create an extension to the existing 350 sq. m, Grade-I listed townhouse. The aim is to transform the museum, which currently attracts around 20,000 visitors a year, into a national centre for the study and display of the 18th-century artist’s work. The trustees, in partnership with the arts charity the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS), have launched a campaign to raise the estimated £7m needed for the building project, plus an additional £1m endowment.
In addition to a permanent exhibition space to display some of the museum’s 2,000-strong collection of paintings, drawings and prints by Gainsborough as well as artist-related books and memorabilia, the 550 sq. m extension will include a large temporary exhibition space (the largest in the Suffolk area), an education gallery and a commercial contemporary art gallery, which complements the museum’s active printmaking studio.
The museum plans to buy the neighbouring property, an old labour exchange, from the Babergh District Council. The Council bought the property when it came up for sale in 2014 in order to allow the museum’s trustees time to amass the necessary funds to purchase it. They need to raise £170,000 by 10 December, in time to submit an application for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. By September 2017 they will need to have £3m in the kitty, with £750,000 reserved for the endowment.
Several organisations, including the J. Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust, The Pilgrim Trust and Arts Council England have donated lead gifts. Local artist Maggi Hambling is raffling off a painting to support the initiative; tickets can be purchased at www.nadfas.org.uk
