The William Humphreys Art Gallery, in Kimberley, South Africa, was opened in 1952 and named after its principal benefactor, William Benbow Humphreys (1889 - 1965). [1]
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In 1948 William Humphreys gave to the City of Kimberley a major part of his personal collection of sixteenth and seventeenth century Dutch and Flemish Old Masters, British and French paintings, antique furniture and other objets d'art. Significant South African works of art assembled by members of the Art Section of the Kimberley Athenaeum and The Max Greenberg Bequest were added to form the nucleus of the Gallery’s collection. The Humphreys Loan Collection and Timlin Collection on indefinite loan from De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, augment it. [2]
More recently the Meyer Collection of European and Oriental Porcelain and the Lawson Collection of Old Master Drawings and Prints have been acquired.
At present the William Humphreys Art Gallery concentrates on collecting South African works of art, and has built up an important art reference library. [3]
Additional to its collecting and exhibiting functions, the William Humphreys Art Gallery serves as an educational and cultural centre, with an outreach programme taking exhibitions to rural towns in the Northern Cape. [4]