Museums - Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

The Brighton Museum was founded in 1873, housed in the former servants' block and stables of the city's Royal Pavilion, where it has since remained. The museum was established after the town of Brighton received an important donation by Henry Willett, a local collector. The permanent collection includes departments in European painting, Art Deco works, fashion and costume, ceramics, and local history, as well as non-European art. The museum was reopened in 2002 after a period of renovation and refitting that significantly expanded its gallery space.
The Brighton Museum's ethnographic art collection numbers over 15,000 items from Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The objects date from two thousand years ago to contemporary times, and include puppets, masks, textiles, and a major group of Burmese materials. The development of the collection is supported by the James Henry Green Charitable Trust, which established the James Green Centre for World Art at the Brighton Museum in 1995.