Towner
Devonshire Park
College Road
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN21 4JJ
England
Website
Towner website
Telephone
General Enquiries
01323 434660
Front Desk / Event Bookings
01323 434670
Venue Hire / Membership
01323 434682
Fax
01323 434699
Towner is the award-winning contemporary art museum for South
East England.
We present major exhibitions of UK and international contemporary
art – and as a museum, we also have a nationally significant collection of art
from across the ages. The Towner Collection is best known for its modern British art, in particular the work of Eric Ravilious.
We put you - the visitor - at the heart of what we do. Our staff are always happy to stop and talk with you!
We are recognised for our award winning development and activity programmes, including a variety of events for all ages (many of which are free - including our family drop-in sessions at weekends and school holidays).
Venue Type:
Gallery, Museum
Additional info
Towner has a gift shop and cafe bar with balcony and stunning views over the South Downs.
Towner is accessible to all - please visit our website to see how we can help meet your access requirements.
We offer free tours of the building and galleries at 11.30am each day. You can also book a group tour for 10 or more people at a time convenient for you, for £2 per person. More in-depth Collection Store tours take place on the last consecutive Saturday and Sunday of every month.
An internationally renowned collection of around 4000 historical, modern and contemporary works. The Towner Collection is best known for its modern British art – including the broadest body of work by Eric Ravilious (1903-1942), and works by Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and other artists of the Bloomsbury Group (who were notable conscientious objectors).
The Towner Collection also has strengths in landscapes, abstract works and a growing strand of international contemporary art.
Collection details
Archives, Decorative and Applied Art, Fine Art, Film and Media, Design
Key artists and exhibits
- Eric Ravilious - extensive holdings - watercolours (including Cuckmere Haven, Downs in Winter), woodcuts & ceramics
- Duncan Grant - Berwick Church designs
- Vanessa Bell - Berwick Church designs
- 20th century British artists including Christopher Wood; Edward Bawden; Henry Moore; Paul Nash; Victor Pasmore; Alfred Wallis; David Bomberg
- William Nicholson - Judd's Farm
- William Gear - various holdings
- Picasso etchings
- International contemporary artists including Julian Opie; Olafur Eliasson; Tacita Dean; Anya Gallaccio; Wolfgang Tillmans; Grayson Perry
- Olafur Eliassion - The Forked Forest Path
- Tacita Dean - The Green Ray
- Wolfgang Tillmans - End of Land I
- Grayson Perry - Map of Nowhere
- Anya Gallaccio - Preserve
- Historic artists - Albrecht Durer; Joseph Wright of Derby; Thomas Sydney Cooper; Joseph van Aken; Thomas Jones
Portraits in the Towner Collection
Every portrait painting tells a story, connecting us to people across time and place. We see our own lives reflected in the subject’s eyes.
While the Towner Collection is perhaps best known for its landscapes, portraiture also forms a significant and compelling strand.
This display encompasses a variety of images and styles, including historical and formal portraiture, narrative scenes and self portraits.
Key Towner Collection artists such as Edward Bawden, David Bomberg and Christopher Wood are represented, whilst some intriguing lesser known artists and works are also revealed.
Suitable for
- Any age
Fiona Rae: Maybe you can live on the moon in the next century
Over the last 25 years Fiona Rae has established herself as one of the leading painters of her generation, with a distinctive body of work – full of restless energy, humour and complexity – which has set out to challenge the modern conventions of painting.
Described by the Guardian as “a Jackson Pollock for the digital age”, Rae draws her influences and ideas from a huge selection of sources – including graphic novels, Japanese anime, the painterly splashes and drips of Abstract Expressionism, and artists as wide-ranging as Albrecht Dürer (whose works are held in the Towner Collection) and Philip Guston.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
Free.
Website
Footsteps of Ravilious Walk
Explore Eric Ravilious’s love of the South Downs, and the landscape and locations which inspired him. Andy will guide you around a number of the Sussex sites that feature in Ravilious’s works, including Furlongs, Mount Caburn, Beachy Head and the greenhouse at Firle. The bus departs Towner at 10am and returns around 4pm. Please arrive 9.45am for registration and boarding. Involves some uphill walking on hilly terrain. Contact us if you have any concerns about the level of physical activity. Make sure you bring water, appropriate footwear, sun cream and wet weather clothing.
Suitable for
- 16-17
- 18+
- Not suitable for children
When
10am-4pm
Admission
£40.00 per person (price includes tour bus).
Website
http://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/event/footsteps-of-ravilious-2/
Curator’s Talk: People and Portraits
Sara will focus on some key portraits, teasing out some of the intriguing threads of connection between artist, subject, and the person who commissioned the portrait or donated it to the collection. Sara will also give an insight into the Towner Collection and how this display was curated. This talk with Q&A is free but booking is recommended.
Suitable for
- 16-17
- 18+
- Not suitable for children
When
12:30-1:30pm
Website
http://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/event/curators-talk-people-and-portraits/
Open Ended
An exploration of the Towner collection for people with memory problems and their carers – developed jointly between Towner and Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust.
Open Ended was inspired by a similar project at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This groundbreaking initiative provides participants with facilitated access to our unique collection, giving them a new way to relate to the world through art.
Participants have said of Open Ended:
“I’ve learnt to look at art with my mind, not just my eyes“
“When I became unwell I thought my life was over but this has reawakened my interest in art“
Open Ended takes place on the first Tuesday morning of every month. The price includes tea or coffee on arrival.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
10am-12pm
Admission
£4 / £3 concession
Website
Open Ended
An exploration of the Towner collection for people with memory problems and their carers – developed jointly between Towner and Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust.
Open Ended was inspired by a similar project at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This groundbreaking initiative provides participants with facilitated access to our unique collection, giving them a new way to relate to the world through art.
Participants have said of Open Ended:
“I’ve learnt to look at art with my mind, not just my eyes“
“When I became unwell I thought my life was over but this has reawakened my interest in art“
Open Ended takes place on the first Tuesday morning of every month. The price includes tea or coffee on arrival.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
10am-12pm
Admission
£4 / £3 concession
Website
Open Ended
An exploration of the Towner collection for people with memory problems and their carers – developed jointly between Towner and Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust.
Open Ended was inspired by a similar project at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This groundbreaking initiative provides participants with facilitated access to our unique collection, giving them a new way to relate to the world through art.
Participants have said of Open Ended:
“I’ve learnt to look at art with my mind, not just my eyes“
“When I became unwell I thought my life was over but this has reawakened my interest in art“
Open Ended takes place on the first Tuesday morning of every month. The price includes tea or coffee on arrival.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
10am-12pm
Admission
£4 / £3 concession
Website
Open Ended
An exploration of the Towner collection for people with memory problems and their carers – developed jointly between Towner and Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust.
Open Ended was inspired by a similar project at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This groundbreaking initiative provides participants with facilitated access to our unique collection, giving them a new way to relate to the world through art.
Participants have said of Open Ended:
“I’ve learnt to look at art with my mind, not just my eyes“
“When I became unwell I thought my life was over but this has reawakened my interest in art“
Open Ended takes place on the first Tuesday morning of every month. The price includes tea or coffee on arrival.
Suitable for
- 18+
When
10am-12pm
Admission
£4 / £3 concession
Website
Getting there
There are excellent public transport links to Towner, including direct rail links from London, Brighton and the rest of the South East.
Towner is a 10 minute walk (or 5 minute taxi ride) from the station. Follow Gildredge Road to the end, then cross over South Street and Furness Road to College Road. Towner is situated at the end of the road on the left, at the junction between College and Carlisle Roads.
Driving from London, take the A23 from London, A27 to Eastbourne and then A2270 towards the town centre & seafront. At the roundabout on Upperton Road (which the A2270 turns into), take the second exit on to Grove Road. At the end of Grove Road take a left down South Street; turn right and immediately left on to College Road. Towner is at the end of College Road.
See our website for rail and bus links.
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