Beecroft Art Gallery

Named after Walter Beecroft (1885–1961) a local Southend-on-Sea solicitor, the gallery was opened in 1951 when a trust set up by Beecroft acquired a hotel for conversion into the Beecroft Art Gallery. As well as donating an initial collection of pictures, Beecroft provided cash for the acquisition of additional paintings. Another donation of local views made by Sydney Thorpe Smith also helped to form the basis of the gallery's stock. In 2014, the gallery moved to the former home of the Central Library on Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea.

The 19th century is represented with works by Edward Lear, William Etty, Henry Bright, Yeend King, George Fripp, Samuel Prout, George Morland, John Callow, a drawing by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and a small but interesting John Constable painting. Works by 20th-century artists include examples by Frank Brangwyn, Carol Weight, Norman Hepple, William Orpen, Ruskin Spear, Edward Bawden, John Nash, Edward Seago, John Aldridge, Peter Coker, Jacob Epstein, Sotheby Pitcher and local Royal Academician Alan Sorrell.

Image(s) below (click to enlarge):