Biography
The present art collection at historic Torre Abbey is largely the result of donations or bequests made by local people since 1930 when the Council purchased Torre Abbey from the Cary family, who had already turned it into a country house, and converted it into an art gallery. Most of the original contents of Torre Abbey were sold by the family at auction in 1858 and 1916 and the Abbey now has paintings from most periods but is particularly rich in nineteenth-century works. These generally reflect the taste of the genteel families, many from London, who bought villas in Torquay during the 19th century, in the days when it served as a fashionable winter resort. The Abbey aims to collect eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth-century landscape, marine and genre paintings by British artists, concentrating in particular on views of south Devon and its coastal waters, and works by local artists. The Friends of Torre Abbey was formed in 1992 to raise funds for the benefit of the collections, and have assisted with a number of recent purchases as well as making a substantial contribution to the restoration fund.
