Biography
The Fitzwilliam Museum was founded in 1816 with the most generous bequest of Viscount Fitzwilliam to the University of Cambridge, where he had studied. His founding collections of paintings, prints, manuscripts and library have been built upon for over 200 years. It now houses over half a million artworks and artefacts in a magnificent Grade I listed building in the heart of historic Cambridge. The Fitzwilliam is the principal museum of the University of Cambridge; its treasures range from fine art to sculpture, furniture, ceramics, silver, armour, coins, music and illuminated manuscripts, as well as antiquities from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Cyprus.
The collection of nearly 2,000 paintings includes some of the very finest artists from the 13th century to the present day, including works by Titian, Rembrandt, Canaletto, Monet, Degas, and Picasso. The Contemporary Art Society has presented over 20 items of art and craft, notably Paul Nash's November Moon, 1942 from the bequest of Sir Edward Marsh (1872-1953), the greatest benefactor to the CAS to date and its Chairman from 1937 to 1952 and works artists such as Wyndham Lewis, Roger Hlton, Bridget Riley and Howard Hodgkin.
