Biography
Founded in 1855 as the Charles Museum - after local Doctor Thomas Charles bequeathed his art and antiquities to the Borough Council, Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery is housed in Dr Charles's former home, Chillington Manor, an Elizabethan manor house with Victorian, 20th and 21st century extensions. Maidstone Museum’s art collection was opened in 1858. The collections grew due to the discerning taste of the early curators and benefactors. In 1873 the Brenchley Collection was bequeathed which includes two magnificent architectural capricci by Giovanni Paolo Panini (c. 1692–1765).
In 1890 the Bentlif Art Gallery extension was erected, paid for by the generosity of local man Samuel Bentlif, in memory of his brother George. The Bentlif bequest of 1897 provides the core of the museums fine art holdings of landscapes, architectural and religious genre works. The collection includes important works by leading foreign and local artists: Abraham Storck (1644–1708), Albert Goodwin (1845–1932), Thomas Sidney Cooper (1803–1902) and Arthur Hughes (1832–1915). The museum has approximately 700 oil paintings dating from the 15th century and continues to acquire, primarily through grant-aid, historic and contemporary paintings with local relevance.
