Bolton Museum opened in the middle of the elegant Le Mans Crescent in 1947. The 20th Century collection was considerably first with the bequest from Bolton cotton manufacturer, Frank Hindley Smith, who was friends with Roger Fry, Maynard Keynes and Samuel Courtauld, and so was able to introduce paintings by Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and William Roberts into the collection. Guided by the Walker Art Gallery, contemporary sculpture by Jacob Epstein, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth was purchased and the donation of the Sycamore Collection of British printmaking from 1900 to 1960 alongside other gifts and acquisitions has enabled Bolton to develop a collection of some distinction.