Collections

Fine Art Collection

The Atkinson has almost three thousand works of art dating from the 17th to the 21st centuries. The collection includes a very fine group of 18th century portraits and many artists’ self-portraits including examples by John Bratby and Christian Seybold.

Highlights of the 20th century collection include several paintings by Walter Sickert and fellow members of the Camden Town School such as Charles Ginner as well as paintings by Scottish Colourists, namely Arthur Melville, JD Fergusson and Samuel Peploe. Key works from World War I include a painting of a mounted trooper by Alfred Munnings and a battle scarred landscape by Paul Nash. The collection of 20th century British sculpture is small but very high quality and includes good examples by Henry Moore, Elisabeth Frink and Jacob Epstein.

There are numerous important watercolours and oils by major British artists including Sargent, Steer, Landseer, BW Leader, John Sell Cotman and William Henry Hunt, as well as a significant collection of marine and coastal paintings. Northern artists are very well represented with good examples by LS Lowry, Theodore Major and Harry Rutherford as well work by Liverpool artists such as Arthur Dooley, Nicholas Horsfield and Adrian Henri.

Unusually for a Northern municipal collection there are many Continental works of art including a painting by the French Salon painter Rosa Bonheur, an early large-scale allegory by Nicolas Loir and a Dutch townscape by Willem Koekkoek.

Image: Lilith, John Collier (1850–1934). Atkinson Art Gallery Collection.

The Goodison Collection of Egyptology

This collection was brought together by Mrs Anne Goodison who had a passion for Egyptology and even taught herself to read hieroglyphics. Mrs Goodison travelled to Egypt and brought together an impressive collection with many rare objects including three paddle dolls. The Goodison collection contains objects that relate to both everyday life and death in ancient Egypt and many are on permanent display in our fantastic Discover Ancient Egypt museum.

Image: The Atkinson. The Goodison Collection. 807 Ba Bird.

The History of Sefton

The Atkinson holds collections relating to the history of Sefton Borough with many objects on display in our Museum, Between Land and Sea – 10,000 Year’s of Sefton’s Coast.

The collection includes original items from the person credited with founding Southport, William Sutton, as well as objects from the many shipwrecks that litter the Sefton Coast including The Mexico Disaster, which was the worst disaster in the history of the RNLI.

There is also a wealth of local history photographs and postcards, ship models, coins and medals, toys and dolls, local archaeology and decorative art collections including a substantial collection of Liverpool Porcelain.

The Atkinson also holds important collections of natural history and taxidermy with many local species represented. As well as all this there is also an impressive collection of costume and costume accessories with many of the pieces either made in Sefton or worn by people from the local area.

Most of the material currently on show in The Atkinson’s museum, Between Land & Sea, is from The Botanic Garden Museum. Much of it is from the old displays but a lot of additional material was conserved and put on display in 2013 and we are continuing to conserve items and return them to the displays as funds allow.

Most of the larger items, for example the shrimping cart and the Crossens canoe, are on display in The Atkinson. One large item that is not on display at The Atkinson is a 19th century fire engine. This is on loan to the fire service museum in Crosby. When the Botanic Garden Museum closed a number of loans were given back to their owners, including a suit of armour and part of the doll collection, so are not included in the Atkinson museum displays.

Image: F J Hooper after return from the southern Journey with Scott.