Bushey Museum and Art Gallery

02/06/2026

We are sharing this post from Elstree and Borehamwood Museum.
Go and see what films were made on our doorstep! Admission: Free
Opening times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 12pm - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 3pm

Our new exhibition Ribbon Of Dreams opens next week on Tuesday 2nd June. Celebrating 100 years of Elstree Studios we have models, small robots, costumes and props from the films, and the background to some of the most popular films made in the studios. You'll find a complete Timeline and lots more.
Looking forward to seeing you...

02/06/2026

We are sharing more of the images from a post made by Ray Robinson, All-star contributor, in The Golden Age Of Illustration group on Facebook. The prints, whose style shows the influence of admired Japanese prints of the time, are by William Nicholson from his book ''London Types'', "Costermonger" and "Barmaid".
William Nicholson was one of the most famous artists who attended Herkomer's Art School in Bushey. Early in his career he worked mainly as a printmaker and designer, notably on some brilliant poster designs in the 1890s, done in collaboration with his brother-in-law James Pryde and on prints for books.

01/06/2026

We are sharing some images from a post made by Ray Robinson, All-star contributor, in The Golden Age Of Illustration group on Facebook yesterday. The prints are by William Nicholson from his book ''London Types''. "Yeoman of the Guard", "Lady" and "Guardsman"
William Nicholson was one of the most famous artists who attended Herkomer's Art School in Bushey. Early in his career he worked mainly as a printmaker and designer, notably on some brilliant poster designs in the 1890s, done in collaboration with his brother-in-law James Pryde and on prints for books.

31/05/2026

We are sharing the image here from The Munnings Art Museum in Dedham posted on Facebook this week. They were having an event on Saturday 30th May about side saddle riding with members of the Side Saddle Association
see https://www.sidesaddleassociation.co.uk/areas.asp
This started us thinking about the relative merits of Sir Alfred Munnings and Lucy Kemp-Welch as horse artists. We are biased of course but we like Lucy's artwork better. How do you think they compare? The Munnings is the first one. The rest are Lucy's. Select each one to see more clearly.

30/05/2026

We posted about our 'Lady in Black' print on Facebook 25th May but we have since been told by one of our volunteers that the lady's name was Miss Silsbee. Our information was that her identity was unknown. The original oil painting of Miss Silsbee by Herkomer can be seen on the Art UK website at https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/entranced-the-lady-in-black-38024/search/actor:von-herkomer-hubert-18491914/page/3. It is part of the collection of Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries, where it is also known as "Entranced".
Information from Christie's website - [The two portraits of Miss Silsbee and Miss Grant (this is part of our collection) were intimately connected.] "As ... laudatory articles rolled out in the newspapers, Herkomer, now Slade Professor of Fine Art, had discovered a second muse, and as a demonstration of his powers, painted her, ‘black on black’, as Entranced, (The Lady in Black), the portrait of Miss Silsbee, a Bostonian (Leeds Museums and Galleries). The work was intended as a companion to the present picture and when shown at the Academy in 1887, it collected similar plaudits and was hung in the same position in the galleries in order to make the connection. (Magazine of Art 1887, p. 271; quoted in McConkey, 1987, p. 82. The picture’s full title was 'Entranced in some diviner mood of self-oblivious solitude'.)"

29/05/2026

These are a pair of Then and Now photos in our display of Greville photos of local scenes. The vacant lot and some of the tiny cottages on the right were replaced by Bushey's Branch of the Watford Co-op in about 1930. It is now the Blue Check Restaurant. Michael's Fish Bar replaced the forge.

28/05/2026

We always like to post this image at some time every year during the month of May. We have left it a bit late this year. This painting from our collection called 'Ode to Spring' is by Beatrice Morton Nance. It always makes us think of traditional celebrations of May Day where young people used to go out into the woods and fields and gather blossoms and branches - Going a-Maying like Guinevere in the tales of King Arthur.

27/05/2026

In the New Acquisitions cabinet in the entrance hall of the Museum are Lucy Kemp-Welch pencil drawings, depicting a warhorse with fallen rider being attended by a young girl. Additional images show two recumbent men, each with a nurse. Items recently acquired by auction by the Friends of Bushey Museum.

26/05/2026

This day in 1849 Hubert Herkomer was born in Waal, Bavaria. This painting is a self portrait, on loan to our collection, painted about 1907, a rather more quiet portrait than sometimes.
"Herkomer settled in England in 1857 with his father (a woodcarver) and became a British citizen. He established his reputation with The Last Muster—Sunday at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea (1875, Lady Lever AG, Port Sunlight), a work appealing to the public taste for patriotic sentiment, and then became a successful and prolific portrait painter. His best-known works today, however, are his scenes of social concern, which were then still something of a novelty in English art (On Strike, 1891, RA, London).
"Herkomer was a versatile artist and a man of many parts. He composed operas, which were performed at his private theatre at Bushey, Hertfordshire, and as well as performing in them and designing the sets, he experimented with new forms of stage lighting; he also designed sets for the cinema.
"From 1883 to 1904 he ran his own art school at Bushey. William Nicholson was one of his pupils, [also Lucy Kemp-Welch of course]. He lectured widely. His books include the autobiographical My School and My Gospel (1908)."
Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)

25/05/2026

As part of our Herkomer Portraits exhibition we have this print of "The Lady in Black" whose identity is unknown. The original oil painting by Herkomer can be seen on the Art UK website at https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/entranced-the-lady-in-black-38024/search/actor:von-herkomer-hubert-18491914/page/3. It is part of the collection of Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries, where it is also known as "Entranced".