Registered Charity No: 310288 (England & Wales).

At the Holburne we take the enjoyment of art seriously. Engaging with and enjoying great works of art enriches lives. It is our aim to encourage as many people as possible to experience the pleasures art brings.

The Holburne's collection was assembled for pleasure. It was shaped by the enthusiasms and tastes of Sir William Holburne, our founder, whom we have to thank for the collection's strengths: Renaissance bronzes, mailoica, Dutch landscapes, silver and porcelain.

Above all the bequest of Sir William's collection, in 1882, has given the Museum its character, its human scale, its sense of profusion and its delight in the small and exquisite. Our other great strength is works from the Georgian period. Our Picture Gallery houses one of the greatest groups of British eighteenth-century portraits in the country: Gainsborough, Stubbs and Zoffany.

Today more people than ever enjoy the Museum. Following a major redevelopment in 2011 visitor numbers are over 130,000 a year (a 500% increase). In part, this is due to our new policy of free admission, but perhaps even more in response to our new award-winning displays and burgeoning programmes of exhibitions, education workshops, talks, concerts and events.

We achieve all this without any regular funding from either Government or Council. As an independent charity everything we do is thanks to the generosity of our volunteers and donors.

Please join them by leaving a Gift in your Will and help us achieve even more as Bath's Art Museum for Everyone.