Reading Foundation for Art

06/06/2025

CELEBRATING RFA’S CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS
* REBECCA SWAINSTON *
Rebecca is a painter and printmaker. Her work addresses the human condition in psychologically charged images which are richly textured and coloured. The work interweaves ideas of the changing nature of identity and perception to explore the shifting nature of existence. Rebecca draws on contemporary and personal events and observations as well as beliefs and ideas from many cultures. work is powerfully emotive. Working across a range of themes which include the mind and body connection the work is powerfully emotive. Objects, pattern and animals carry ideas and reflect aspects of the underlying narrative.
The RFA acquired ‘Duality with Horse’ in 2021

30/05/2025

CELEBRATING RFA’S CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS
* JOHANNES VON STUMM *

Johannes von Stumm’s unique combination of three different materials has attracted public and critical acclaim in a decade of successful exhibitions, both in the UK and abroad. His startlingly original sculpture, which engages continually with risk and a defiance of accepted laws, joins iron, granite and glass to create abstract or reduced figurative works in which apparently conflicting materials exist in complex harmony.

Johannes grew up in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. His native landscape of woodland, rock and ice has had a profound influence on his choice of materials. In `Arches II` he has combined ephemeral and permanent materials to form a provocative harmony of curves.

23/05/2025

CELEBRATING RFA’S CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS
* HALIMA CASSELL *

Halima Cassell, a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, has been recognised as one of the leading figures in contemporary British studio pottery. Following the success of her debut solo show, Carved Earth, Halima's abstract sculptures became highly sought after, and were bought by the V&A, along with 16 other prominent museums around the world, and Reading Museum is proud to be one of these.

Anywhere between 100 and 250 hours goes into each sculpture, making for pieces of art that are intricate in design and captivating in appearance.

16/05/2025

Over coming months, in celebration of the Foundation’s 50th Anniversary, we will feature recent key acquisitions and commissions supported by the RFA. All works are cared for and exhibited by the Reading Museum, for the people of Reading.

14/05/2025

Discover the beauty of Halima Cassell's hand-carved unglazed stoneware piece, 'Vestige'. This remarkable work is presented by the Contemporary Art Society. Explore more about this incredible commission and support local artistry at https://wix.to/HSiciyF

In 2021 the Contemporary Art Society, supported by Reading Foundation for Art, and the Heritage Lottery Fund, through the Reading Abbey Revealed project, commissioned Halima Cassell to make a sculpture in response to the important decorative carved stones from Reading Abbey. She has created somethin...

19/02/2025

ART STORIES Last chance to visit this major exhibition of artworks from the Reading Foundation for Art collection, on display in the Sir John Madejeski galleries at Reading Museum. Explore a wide range of paintings, prints, sculptures, textiles and more until 22nd February.

12/02/2025

Reading Museum has been celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Reading Foundation for Arts with a major exhibition entitled ‘Art Stories’ featuring key works acquired by the Foundation during its fifty year history and which have been presented to the Museum. ‘Art Stories’ continues until 22nd February 2025

05/02/2025

NEW RFA ACQUISITION
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
‘Still Life with a Watermelon’ 1962
Linocut
Donated in 2024 from a ‘proud Reading Man’ to the RFA

Picasso was an innovator in every art form that he worked in, from painting, to ceramic, to printmaking. He frequently pushed the boundaries of the possible, and made the medium his own. It was not until 1939, however, that Picasso tried a style of printmaking called linocut which was to absorb him for much of his later career.

31/01/2025

NEW ACQUISITION
Alice Kettle ‘Sunflowers’ 2023
Embroidery on linen
265 x 130cm

This major acquisition in 2024 was made in celebration of the RFA’s 50 year history and the purchase was assisted by funding from the Art Fund and the V&A Purchase Grant Fund.
Internationally renowned as a pioneer in textile art, Kettle defies expectations of her medium through the unprecedented scale of her work. Her unique combination of machine and hand embroidery builds tiny individual stitches into sweeping, painterly lines that deceive the eye. Her fine art training at the University of Reading, links her to an influential generation of contemporary painters such as Terry Frost, Mali Morris and Albert Irvin, all of whom were her tutors. RFA Trustees gathered recently to admire the work during which is on show during the Art Stories exhibition.

26/01/2025

Don't miss the exhibition 'Art Stories' at Reading Museum which celebrates 50 years of the Reading Foundation for Art and features key works from the collection.

22/01/2025

NEW RFA ACQUISITION Edmund John Niemann (1813–1876) 'Reading from Caversham Hill' oil on canvas
Edmund John Niemann was a highly prolific and greatly celebrated landscape artist. His extremely large portfolio covered scenes across the length and breadth of Britain and his most famous works are those depicting the river Thames. In the early 1840s, Niemann produced a series of publications under the title of ‘A Tour Around Reading’. It is thought that the RFA's painting of 'Reading from Caversham Hill' was part of this series. See it now at the Reading Museum in their current exhibition 'Art Stories' until February 22 2025.