Information

Maidstone Museums contain 3 museums with 600.000 objects ranging from oil paintings, to archaeology, costume to paleontology and Egyptology to carriages (and everything in between). The art collection, with more than 550 oil paintings, constitutes Kent’s biggest publicly owned collection. The works were donated by local entrepreneurs and business people, and also are held in trust for other groups such as the Bentlif Trust.

The collection’s strengths include pre-1800 minor Dutch Old Masters. There are about 30 artworks attributed to the Dutch and Flemish school. Artists represented include Adriaen van Ostade, Willem van Diest, Jacob Bogdani, Pieter Mulier II, Willem Schellinks, Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot and Paul Vredeman de Vries. The highlights of the collection are landscapes and still lifes.

Samantha Harris, Collections Manager (August 2024)