IF YOU’VE always wanted to get your hands on Venus Verticordia you’re not alone.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s iconic painting has become an unofficial symbol of Bournemouth’s Russell-Cotes Museum. “We’ve seen many a visitor staring longingly at her!” says marketing manager Kerry Curtis.

Now the visitors can have her; thanks to a new venture launched in time for Christmas by the museum as part fundraiser, part public service.

Art On Demand is an online store where customers can order a high-quality reproduction of hundreds of paintings in the Russell-Cotes collection, either as a print, framed picture, poster or canvas.

“We want as many people as possible to share this wonderful art – it’s theirs, they already own it,” says Kerry. “But obviously we can’t loan out images as important as this, so by making these works available at relatively low prices we can allow people to have them in their home.”

The beauty of the scheme, she says, is that unlike standard reproduction, the paintings can be reproduced in more or less any size, and come in a variety of finishes and ready to hang. “We have deliberately kept pricing as competitive as we can,” says Kerry. “Museums are all about allowing access to their collections and we want to make our art products as accessible as possible without compromising on quality or service. Our wall art starts at just £9.99.”

Art lovers can choose from hundreds of images by world-renowned painters such as Rossetti, De Morgan, Moore, Etty and Landseer.

Best of all, says Kerry, is the opportunity they offer to discover new things about your favourite picture. “Because the lighting in the museum has to be kept low, it’s easy to miss the detail in the paintings,” she says. “It was only when I saw the reproduced Venus painting that I noticed the bluebird in the top right-hand corner.”

* For more information on how to order contact russellcotesartshop.co.uk