New Acquisitions this Summer

The term “New Acquisitions” refers to the latest objects that have come into the museum collection. Leicester Museums & Galleries has been constantly adding to its collection since 1849. We do this to ensure that the collection remains representative of the stories of Leicester’s diverse communities, as well as reflecting the city’s unique places, arts, and heritage.

The museum usually receives new acquisitions in one of three ways: by donation, bequest, or purchase. Donations are gifts from the general public, local businesses, or organisations, and are the most common way we gain objects. Bequests are items left to the museum by a person in their will. Occasionally, the museum will purchase an item, for example an artwork or an important historical treasure, to bring it into public ownership and preserve it for future generations.

Some of the recent new acquisitions to be highlighted are donated artworks by Richard Clark (1952-2022) and Mandeep Dhadialla.

These six wonderful artworks are on display this summer at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery.

Richard Clark (1952-2022)

Three images by Richard Clark (1952 – 2022) © the Estate of Richard Clark
Left: Turkey Café, Leicester, Colour aquatint 1989
Middle: Station Façade, Leicester, Colour aquatint 1989
Right: Sea Breeze, Leicester (artist’s proof), Colour aquatint 1990

Donated in memory of Richard Clark, 2023.

These three recently-donated artworks were created by Richard Clark (1952-2022), a printmaker who specialised in colour aquatints of architectural details such as those you see here. He travelled widely within the UK to seek out these details and to photograph them and would then make a detailed drawing before beginning work on the etching plate. By using aquatint, he was able to bring out the textural qualities of stone or brick as well as using colours for rich, layered effects. He was associated with Birmingham Print Workshop for many years and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery holds a number of his prints within its collection.

 

Mandeep Dhadialla

Steam and Seeds Set by Mandeep Dhadialla, Linocut, 2023. Donated by the artist, 2023.

Three images © Mandeep Dhadialla, left to right: 

Steam and Seeds I: Individual Fig Tree
Steam and Seeds II: Individual Tomatoes and Beam Engines
Steam and Seeds III: Individual Reeds

Mandeep Dhadialla is a Leicester-based artist who specialises in linoprints. The three prints were from a commission for Leicester Arts and Museums, funded by Arts Council England in 2023, which saw the artist create linoprints in a response to Abbey Pumping Station and the environment. The project was entitled Steam and Seeds and tells a story of wastewater management through the lens of plants and Victorian engineering. The images include references from the pre-industrial era up to the modern day.

The works were enlarged for display at Highcross Shopping Centre in Spring 2023, and in the Autumn the artist presented an A3 set to Leicester Museums.

Steam and Seeds on display at Highcross Shopping Centre, 2023