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The Whitworth

The Whitworth

The Whitworth is proudly part of the University of Manchester and serves as a bridge between the University and the people of the city; a place to meet, play and learn in public. Its mission is to use art for social change. It was founded in 1889 as The Whitworth Institute and Park in memory of the industrialist Sir Joseph Whitworth for “the perpetual gratification of the people of Manchester”, with clear practical aims to educate and inspire a city of makers and manufacturing. The Whitworth has an extensive and internationally significant collection of over 58,000 works ranging from outstanding groups of works on paper to textiles and wallpapers made for the mass market, a unique collection of Outsider Art and international contemporary works. Dynamic and changing, we continue to expand our collection through gifts and acquisitions, such as a recent major donation of works by Cézanne from the collector Karsten Schubert.