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Supporting museums Art we've helped buy Better Days III
Better Days III Better Days III
Better Days III Better Days III

Better Days III

Susan Collis

Art Funded
2009
Dimensions
240 x 120 cm
Art Fund grant
£3,500 (Total: £9,500)
Vendor
Seventeen Gallery
Collis uses a variety of techniques, processes and materials to create sculptures which explore ideas about craft, labour and value, and which play with our perceptions.

She presents existing, everyday objects - such as overalls, step-ladders, brooms and dustsheets - and transforms them in to something extraordinary. At first glance, these objects appear to be stained and spattered with marks made through their use. Closer inspection reveals that this perceived wear and tear has been carefully orchestrated by the artist and applied by hand: thus the drips of paint on a battered step-ladder, layered through years of use, have in fact been simulated by the meticulous in-laying of diamonds, opals and pearls. This work will develop and enhance Nottingham's existing collection of contemporary Fine Art Textiles.

Provenance

The artist.

Dustsheet & embroidery

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Nottingham Castle

Off Friar Lane, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG1 6EL
01158 761 400
Website

Opening times

Nottingham Castle is closed throughout 2019 for major redevelopment works, scheduled for completion in 2020.

Art we’ve helped buy at Nottingham Castle

1) Untitled: disaster 3; 2) Untitled: Basel structure; 3) Untitled: crushedshape
 Acquired 2011
Winter Scene & Barnard Castle, Co Durham
 Acquired 1936
View of Nottingham
 Acquired 1940
Two stage designs
 Acquired 1932
Trees by a Brook
 Acquired 1955
Three works
 Acquired 2016
The Undercliff & View on the Seine
 Acquired 1928
The Test Question
 Acquired 1949
The Passion of Christ
 Acquired 1983
The Convex Mirror
 Acquired 1933
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary
 Acquired 1989
Sir Alfred Gilbert Works of Art
 Acquired 1936
Reflections
 Acquired 1994
Part of the Hundred Steps and Winchester Tower, Windsor Castle
 Acquired 1975
Marianne Thornton
 Acquired 1947
Laura Mary Forster
 Acquired 1947
Golders Green & The Downs from Litlington
 Acquired 1924
Gigantic Pumpkin
 Acquired 2010
Fish slice
 Acquired 1999
Escape Artist (Multicoloured)
 Acquired 2009
Du Maurier Bequest
 Acquired 1934
Drawing - Head and Shoulders of an Old Lady
 Acquired 1933
Comedy and Tragedy
 Acquired 1959
Collection of Oriental porcelain and earthenware
 Acquired 1921
Clench
 Acquired 1997
Brooch
 Acquired 2011
Bouquet and Sunshade
 Acquired 1968
Better Days III
 Acquired 2009
Anglo-saxon strapend
 Acquired 2003
A View of Nottingham
 Acquired 1977
4 Shields & Panel
 Acquired 1931
1) Pierced mug; 2) Flask; 3) Porringer
 Acquired 2011
1) Message to Narcissus, Nesscliffe, Shropshire; 2) A quality of Dancing (tree with Cloud), Nesscliffe, Shropshire; 3) Ceremonial Dwellings, Horsley, Derbyshire
 Acquired 2013
1) An Argyllshire Moor-Sunset ; 2) Wind and Rain; 3) Derwentwater from Armathwaite
 Acquired 1923

Nottingham Castle was one of eight museums to win a share of £75,000 from the Art Fund in 2010 as part of Art Fund Collect, an annual initiative that allows museums to acquire significant works of art from the Crafts Council's art fair Collect.

The chosen object, a brooch by Italian goldsmith Giovanni Corvaja, was bought by Nottingham Castle with a 100% grant from the Art Fund of £13,000. It is made from gold and platinum gossamer and platinum wire. The gossamer is as fine as human hair and is scattered with drops of coloured enamel.

The Passion of Christ altarpiece at Nottingham Castle is one of only two near-complete Nottingham alabaster altarpieces in the UK. It is dominated by a central panel depicting the Holy Trinity and features scenes from the Passion on either side. The piece was given a grant of £12,375 in 1983 towards the total cost of £49,500.

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Image credits

1 . Better Days III

© courtesy of the artist and Seventeen Gallery, London

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