Dr Paul Robinson, FSA. As we at the Museum remember him. Image courtesy of Diane Robinson

Opening on 12 May is our next exhibition ‘Telling Wiltshire’s Story: 30 years of support from Art Fund’. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Dr Paul Robinson, who was Curator of the Wiltshire Museum for more than 20 years. Paul devoted much of his career to acquiring nationally important items to add to the collections and therefore raise its profile both archaeologically and artistically.

Over the last 30 years, Art Fund has generously contributed £50,000 to help purchase many important acquisitions for the Wiltshire Museum. The exhibition celebrates this support by displaying an eclectic mix of art and artefacts such as depictions of Wiltshire landmarks and landscapes, a Roman coin hoard, a collection of medieval floor tiles and a set of 19th century Druid medals. This is the first time that these items have been on show together.

Highlights from the exhibition include lithographs from the Stonehenge Suite by Henry Moore; works by David Inshaw; a pencil drawing by Robin Tanner and a watercolour by Anthony Vandyke Copley-Fielding. The show will include the oldest depiction of Stonehenge in the Museum’s collection, Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, a watercolour from 1784 by Joshua Gosselin. Pictures of Stonehenge are complemented by images of other local Wiltshire landmarks including Old Wardour Castle, Silbury Hill, West Yatton, Devil’s Den, Stourhead gardens and Bradenstoke Abbey. A stained glass window designed by John Piper for Wiltshire Museum and its cartoon will be on display.

For more details about the exhibition and a selection of the works on display, see the exhibition page.

‘Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain’ by Joshua Gosselin, 1784. The earliest painting of Stonehenge in the Museum collection.