The Beecroft Art Gallery is the principal art gallery of Southend-on-Sea, housed in the former Central Library building on Victoria Avenue. The collection focuses on British art from the 17th century to the present, with the strongest holdings in 19th- and 20th-century painting and printmaking. The gallery is particularly known for its works by Edward Bawden, the printmaker and book illustrator who lived in nearby Saffron Walden and donated much of his estate.
Smaller temporary exhibitions occupy a separate ground-floor gallery, often showing contemporary work by Essex-based artists. Free entry; closed Mondays.