The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It is part of the

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...

group.

History of the Gallery

Martin Archer Shee - William Roscoe - Google Art Project

The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 when the Liverpool Royal Institution acquired 37 paintings from the collection of

William Roscoe William Roscoe (8 March 175330 June 1831) was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children ''The Butterfly's Ball, and the G ...

, who had to sell his collection following the failure of his banking business, though it was saved from being broken up by his friends and associates. In 1843, the Royal Institution's collection was displayed in a purpose-built gallery next to the Institution's main premises. In 1850 negotiations by an association of citizens to take over the Institution's collection, for display in a proposed art gallery, library and museum, came to nothing. The collection grew over the following decades: in 1851 Liverpool Town Council bought Liverpool Academy's diploma collection and further works were acquired from the Liverpool Society for the Fine Arts, founded in 1858. The competition between the academy and society eventually led to both collapsing. William Brown Library and Museum opened in 1860, named after a Liverpool merchant whose generosity enabled the Town Council to act upon an 1852 Act of Parliament which allowed the establishment of a public library, museum and art gallery, and in 1871 the council organised the first Liverpool Autumn Exhibition, held at the new library and museum. The success of the exhibition enabled the Library, Museum and Arts Committee to purchase works for the council's permanent collection, buying around 150 works between 1871 and 1910. Works acquired included WF Yeames' ''

And when did you last see your father? ''And When Did You Last See Your Father?'' is a 2007 British drama film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by David Nicholls is based on the 1993 memoir of the same title by Blake Morrison. Plot While Blake Morrison, his mother, and ...

'' and

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

's ''

Dante's Dream ''Dante's Dream'' (full title ''Dante's Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice'') is a painting from 1871 by the English Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It hangs in the McManus Art Gallery, Dundee, Scotland. He repeated a ...

''. Designed by local architects Cornelius Sherlock and H. H. Vale, the Walker Art Gallery was opened on 6 September 1877 by Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby. It is named after its founding benefactor, Sir Andrew Barclay Walker (1824–1893), a former mayor of Liverpool and wealthy

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer ...

born in Ayrshire who expanded the family business to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and moved to live in

Gateacre Gateacre () is a suburb of Liverpool, England, about from the city centre. It is bordered by Childwall, Woolton and Belle Vale. The area is noted for its Tudor Revival architecture and contains over 100 listed buildings within a quarter-mile r ...

. In 1893, the Liverpool Royal Institution placed its collection on long-term loan to the gallery and in 1948 presented William Roscoe's collection and other works. This occurred during post-war reconstruction when the gallery was closed, re-opening in 1951. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the gallery was taken over by the

Ministry of Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

and the collection was dispersed for safety. Extensions to the gallery were opened in 1884 and 1933 (following a two-year closure) when the gallery re-opened with an exhibition including Picasso and

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

. In 2002 the gallery re-opened following a major refurbishment. In 1986, the gallery achieved national status, as part of the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside. The gallery is housed in a neo-Classical building located on

William Brown Street William Brown Street in Liverpool, England, is a road that is remarkable for its concentration of public buildings. It is sometimes referred to as the "Cultural Quarter". Originally known as ''Shaw's Brow'', a coaching road east from the city, ...

(the only street in the United Kingdom to consist of nothing other than museums, galleries and libraries). The neighbouring area includes the

William Brown Library The William Brown Library and Museum is a Grade II* listed building situated on the historic William Brown Street in Liverpool, England. The building currently houses part of the World Museum Liverpool and Liverpool Central Library. The Will ...

World Museum Liverpool World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

, St. George's Hall,

Wellington's Column Wellington's Column, or the Waterloo Memorial, is a monument to the Duke of Wellington standing on the corner of William Brown Street and Lime Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England ...

Lime Street Station Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...

and the entrance to the Queensway Tunnel. The other major art gallery in Liverpool is

Tate Liverpool Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development C ...

, at the Albert Dock, which houses modern art. File:Walker Art Gallery 1259.JPG, Late Renaissance Gallery File:Walker Art Gallery 1288.JPG, Pre-Raphaelite Gallery File:Walker Art Gallery 1295.jpg, Sculpture Gallery

Permanent Collection

The Walker's collection includes Italian and Netherlandish paintings from 1300 to 1550, European art from 1550 to 1900, including works by Giambattista Pittoni, Rembrandt,

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...

and

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...

, 18th and 19th-century British art, including a major collection of Victorian painting and many

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

works, a wide collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, 20th-century works by artists such as

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

and

Gilbert and George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art d ...

and a major sculpture collection. The select collection of minor or decorative arts covers a wide range, from Gothic ivories to British ceramics up to the present day. On 17 December 2011, the Walker Art Gallery got a new addition to its collection – a statue of a priest vandalised by Banksy. The renowned graffiti artist has sawn off the face of an 18th-century replica stone bust and glued on a selection of bathroom tiles. The resulting 'pixellated' portrait is entitled ''Cardinal Sin'' and is believed to be a comment on the abuse scandal in the Church and its subsequent cover-up. This piece of art is displayed in Room three, which is one of the 17th-century Old Master galleries. As of 2 July 2013, the ''La Masseuse'' sculpture by Edgar Degas, previously owned by

, found a permanent home at the Walker Art Gallery, thanks to the donation-in-payment system put in place by the Arts Council England.

Gallery

Exhibitions

The first John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize exhibition was held in 1957. Sponsored by Sir John Moores, founder of Littlewoods, the competition has been held every two years ever since and is the biggest painting prize in the UK. There is a regular programme of temporary exhibitions which in 2009-10 has included Aubrey Williams, Bridget Riley, Sickert and Freud. In 2004, the gallery staged '' The Stuckists Punk Victorian'', the first national museum exhibition of the Stuckist art movement. The Gallery also takes part in the

Liverpool Biennial Liverpool Biennial is the largest international contemporary art festival in the United Kingdom. Every two years, the city of Liverpool hosts an extensive range of artworks, projects, and a programme of events. The biennial commissions leading ...

References

External links