Chelmsford Museum, owned by Chelmsford Borough Council, has a good collection of art works (179 oil paintings), both of local subject matter, and by mid Essex artists, predominantly 20th century in date, such as Lynton Harold Lamb.

Display space is unfortunately limited to a handful of pictures on permanent display. These include a set of fifteenth century rood screens from Latchingdon Church, 'The Shire Hall Chelmsford' by Philip Reinagle, and 'Ear Inspection in a Russian Hospital', by Emily Shanks. Other works in the collection are by John Aldridge, Maggi Hambling, Cedric Morris, and John O’Connor.

Works from the reserve collections are periodically shown in temporary exhibitions.

New items with a local relevance are still actively sought, with local and national grant aid helping to boost the buying power of the museum’s limited acquisition fund. A recent purchase in 2010 is 'Peasant Fayre', by Frederick Brown.