York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. The building is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

and is managed by

York Museums Trust York Museums Trust (YMT) is the charity responsible for operating some key museums and galleries in York, England. The trust was founded in 2002 to run York's museums on behalf of the City of York Council. It has seen an increase in annual foo ...

History

Foundation and development

The gallery was created to provide a permanent building as the core space for the second Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition of 1879, the first in 1866 having occupied a temporary chalet in the grounds of Bootham Asylum. The 1866 exhibition, which ran from 24 July to 31 October 1866 was attended by over 400,000 people and yielded a net profit for the organising committee of £1,866. A meeting of this committee in April 1867 committed to "applying this surplus in providing some permanent building to be devoted to the encouragement of Art and Industry". The result was the development of a second exhibition, housed in a newly constructed building designed by a York architect named Edward Taylor; a series of 189 drawings, watercolours and sketches for the proposed gallery were produced by Taylor in the period 1874–1878. The architectural plan for the building changed considerably during this time, from an 'Elizabethan' style to an 'Italian' style – neither were fully realised in the final design. The building first opened on 7 May 1879. The site for the 1879 exhibition was an area in the grounds of the medieval St Mary's Abbey known as 'Bearparks Garden'. It is fronted by what became

Exhibition Square Exhibition Square is an open space in the city centre of York, England. History The area covered by the square lay immediately outside the walls of Roman Eboracum and the Mediaeval York city walls, but within the walls of neighbouring St Mar ...

, which was cleared by the demolition of a house and the former Bird in Hand Hotel. The art gallery consisted of an entrance hall, central hall, north and south galleries and on the upper floor a Grand Picture Saloon. Its intended grand classical façade decorated with 18 stone figures, a carved tympanum and 14 mosaics was not done for financial reasons and it was decorated instead with two tiled panels representing 'Leonardo expiring in the arms of Francis I', and 'Michaelangelo showing his Moses', together with four ceramic roundels depicting York artists William Etty (painter), John Carr (architect), John Camidge (musician), and

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...

(sculptor). To the rear of the building was a large temporary exhibition hall with machinery annex. The exhibition hall itself measured by and had aisles on each side with galleries above. A large organ was placed in the building, originally built in 1862 by William Telford of Dublin. The roof of the building was over above. Each side of the covered way between the hall and the stone building was used for refreshments with a cafe on one side and a first-class lounge on the other. A large cellar was excavated below in order to store liquor for these rooms. The exhibition hall was intended to be used only for three years, but remained in use for meetings, concerts and other functions until 1909 and was not demolished until the Second World War. File:Exhibition Square, York - geograph.org.uk - 1567569.jpg, The Gallery situated within Exhibition Square File:York City Art Gallery.JPG, Front elevation File:York Face 1 (4364514469).jpg, Sculpted roundel on the front elevation File:York Art Gallery - Front mosaic2.jpg, Mosaic panel on the front elevation File:Statue of William Etty, York 3.jpg, Statue of William Etty File:York art gallery - Back.jpg, Rear elevation File:York art gallery - West elevation.jpg, West elevation Following the 1879 exhibition the renamed Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Institution aimed to create a permanent art exhibition. It was given a major boost by the bequest of York collector John Burton (1799–1882) of more than one hundred 19th-century paintings, supplemented by gifts and in the early years two major temporary loan collections. In 1888 the north galleries were leased to York School of Art, which moved there in 1890 from

Minster Yard Minster Yard is a street in the city centre of York, England. It runs along the southern, eastern and northeastern sides of York Minster, for which it is named. History The street may have originated as the courtyard of the headquarters buildi ...

. York City Council purchased the buildings and collection in 1892. Temporary summer exhibitions ceased in 1903 but a major exhibition of the work of York artist William Etty was held in 1911 when his statue by local sculptor George Walker Milburn was erected outside. In 1888 the north wing was leased to York Art School which added a further storey in 1905, and after that the wing was vacated by the school. It housed the city archives from 1977 to 2012.

Second World War

The period up to the commencement of the Second World War was one of modest growth, the major event being purchase of the

Dr William Arthur Evelyn William Arthur Evelyn (4 October 1860 – 6 January 1935) was a distinguished historian of York, England. He championed the preservation and conservation of the city’s architectural and archaeological heritage. He also gathered an extensive coll ...

collection of prints, drawings and watercolours of York in 1931. The building was requisitioned for military purposes at the outbreak of the Second World War and closed, suffering bomb damage during the

Baedeker Blitz The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of aerial attacks in April and May 1942 by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on English cities during the Second World War. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, inclu ...

on 29 April 1942.

Post-War

Domenichino - Portrait of Monsignor Giovanni Battista Agucchi - YORAG 787

The gallery reopened in 1948 with a small temporary exhibition before a major restoration in 1951–52 after which began a major revival of fortune under the direction of Hans Hess. He made important acquisitions with the assistance of the York Art Collection Society founded in 1948 (later Friends of York Art Gallery) and the

National Art Collections Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

, and then in 1955 the donation of FD Lycett Green's collection of more than one hundred continental

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

paintings. As a result of the systematic build up under Hess and his successors, the gallery has a British collection especially of late-19th-century and early-20th-century works with some French works representative of influential styles. In 1963 the gallery was given Eric Milner-White's collection of

studio pottery Studio pottery is pottery made by professional and amateur artists or artisans working alone or in small groups, making unique items or short runs. Typically, all stages of manufacture are carried out by the artists themselves.Emmanuel Cooper, ...

Later 20th century

In the 1990s and 2000s the collection was supplemented by other major donations and loans, most notably those of WA Ismay and Henry Rothschild (1913–2009).

1999 robbery

In January 1999 the gallery was victim of an armed robbery, during which staff were tied up and threatened, and over £700,000 of paintings were stolen. At closing time, four members of staff were threatened by two men bearing pistols and wearing ski masks. They took a watercolour by

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

from a display case and 19 other paintings from the walls, cutting some of those from their frames. The main perpetrator, Craig Townsend, was arrested by armed police when he, and another man, arrived at an arranged meeting with an art dealer to sell the stolen paintings. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail at York Crown Court in February 2000 for the robbery.

21st century

The gallery underwent a £445,000 refurbishment in 2005, reopening on 19 March. This development was supported by a £272,700 grant from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and £85,000 from the City of York Council. A restoration in 2013–15 cost £8 million, and was undertaken to increase display space by some 60%, including reincorporation of the north wing, an upper-floor extension to the south wing, and reorganisation of the internal space for exhibition and storage. The development enabled the area to the rear of the building to be restored to public use as part of the

Museum Gardens The York Museum Gardens are botanic gardens in the centre of York, England, beside the River Ouse. They cover an area of of the former grounds of St Mary's Abbey, and were created in the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society along wi ...

. The reopened gallery houses the British Studio Ceramics on the upper floor. The gallery reopened on 1 August 2015, charging an admission fee for the first time since 2002. The first year after the gallery reopened with a new charging structure saw visitor numbers fall by over 120,000 to 91,896 compared to the year 2011–2012 when there was no admission charge. During the 2020 exhibition of paintings by Harland Miller ("Harland Miller: York, So Good They Named it Once") it was reported that commemorative posters sold in the Art Gallery gift shop were being resold online for up to £1,000. The posters depicted a reworked version of Miller's 2009 work 'York – So Good They Named It Once'; part of his 'Pelican Bad Weather' series of humorous book covers. In November 2020 the gallery announced that it had acquired works following a successful application to the Derbyshire School Library Service, which had owned the works but closed in 2018. The works acquired are by four British artists: Prunella Clough, Margaret Mellis, Marion Grace Hocken, and Daphne Fedarb.

COVID-19 pandemic

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

the gallery, along with the other York Museums Trust sites, closed to the public on 23 March 2020. It was announced in July that the gallery would reopen on 1 August ( Yorkshire Day) 2020 and that it would not charge visitors. The gallery was forced to close a second time from 5 November 2020 as part of new national restrictions in England. It reopened on 1 December 2020, but York was moved into Tier 3 Restrictions on 31 December 2020, forcing the gallery to close again. In March 2021 it was announced that the Art Gallery would reopen on 28 May to coincide with the launch of a new exhibition 'Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years'.

Collection

Paintings

Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball by William Etty YORAG 2009 6

The gallery has more than 1,000 paintings. Western European paintings include 14th-century Italian altarpieces,

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of t ...

's early 17th-century '' Portrait of monsignor Giovanni Battista Agucchi'', 17th-century Dutch morality works, and 19th-century works by French artists who were predecessors and contemporaries of the Impressionists. British paintings date from the 16th century onward, with 17th and 18th-century portraits and paintings by

Giambattista Pittoni Giambattista Pittoni or Giovanni Battista Pittoni (6 June 1687 – 6 November 1767) was a Venetian painter of the late Baroque or Rococo period. He was among the founders of the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, of which in 1758 he became the ...

and vedutas by Bernardo Bellotto, Victorian morality works and early 20th-century work by the Camden Town Group associated with

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

being particularly strong. Among the contemporaries, Paul Nash, L. S. Lowry and

Ben Nicholson Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life. Background and training Nicholson was born on 10 April 1894 in De ...

and the Swiss-born Luigi Pericle. Amongst York born artists the gallery has the largest collection of works by William Etty and good paintings by Albert Moore.

Henry Keyworth Raine Henry Keyworth Raine (1872–1934) was a British portrait painting, portraitist. Life Born in York, he was the son of the James Raine (Chancellor), Reverend James Raine and Ann Jane Keyworth; and the great nephew of William Powell Frith, In ...

, the great nephew of

William Powell Frith William Powell Frith (9 January 1819 – 2 November 1909) was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853, presenting ''The Sleep ...

, gifted various works, including a portrait of George Kirby (1845–1937), the First Curator of York Art gallery.

Studio pottery

The gallery holds a collection of British studio ceramics with more than 5,000 pieces. They include works by

Bernard Leach Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Biography Early years (Japan) Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...

, Shoji Hamada,

William Staite Murray William Staite Murray (1881–1962) was an English studio potter. Biography He was born in Deptford, London and attended pottery classes at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts from 1909 - 1912. He worked with Cuthbert Hamilton, a member of the ...

, Michael Cardew,

Lucie Rie Dame Lucie Rie, (16 March 1902 – 1 April 1995) () was an Austrian-born British studio potter. Life Early years and education Lucie Gomperz was born in Vienna, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary, the youngest child of Benjamin Gomperz, a Jewi ...

, Hans Coper, Jim Malone and

Michael Casson Michael Casson OBE (2 April 1925 - 12 December 2003) born in London, was an English studio potter, referred to as "respected and charismatic". He studied art and woodwork at Shoreditch College, and ceramics at Hornsey College of Art, and was one ...

Works on paper

The collection of more than 17,000 drawings, watercolours and prints is particularly strong in views of York, with more than 4,000 examples, largely watercolours and drawings, some by local artists such as Henry Cave, John Harper, John Browne and Patrick Hall. Watercolour artists represented include

Thomas Rowlandson Thomas Rowlandson (; 13 July 175721 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual social an ...

John Varley John Varley may refer to: * John Varley (canal engineer) (1740–1809), English canal engineer * John Varley (painter) (1778–1842), English painter and astrologer * John Varley (author) (born 1947), American science fiction author * John Silvest ...

, Thomas Girtin,

, and 20th-century painters Edward Burra, John Piper and Julian Trevelyan. The gallery holds the William Etty archive.

Decorative arts

There are more than 3,000 decorative objects particularly from Yorkshire potteries from the 16th century to the early 20th century, Chinese and Korean pottery from the 18th and 19th century, and glassware.

Curators and directors

Exhibitions in York Art Gallery

Many exhibitions have taken place in the gallery, of varying sizes and length.

2009

*"3 Collectors: Gallery of Pots" (10 September 2009–9 May 2010). An exhibition of decorative arts by Bill Ismay, Eric Milner-White, and Henry Rothschild.

2011

*''

Bigger Trees Near Warter ''Bigger Trees Near Warter'' or ''ou Peinture en Plein Air pour l'age Post-Photographique'' is a large landscape painting by British artist David Hockney. Measuring , it depicts a coppice near Warter, Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire ...

'' by

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 ...

(10 February 2011–22 June 2011). *"William Etty – Art and Controversy" (25 June 2011–22 January 2012)

2012

*"Gordon Baldwin – Objects for a Landscape" (11 February 2011–10 June 2012).

2015

The restoration of York Art Gallery in 2013–2015 created several new gallery spaces, including the Burton Gallery and the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA). *The Burton Gallery is a permanent exhibition gallery including works by

Edward Matthew Ward Edward Matthew Ward, , (14 July 1816 – 15 January 1879) was a British painter who specialised in historical genre. He is best known for his murals in the Palace of Westminster depicting episodes in British history from the English Civil War t ...

, L. S. Lowry, and William Etty. *"History of British Studio Pottery" (opened 2015). This is the permanent exhibition in the CoCA gallery. *"Manifest: 10,000 Hours". An installation by

Clare Twomey Clare Twomey (born 1968 in Ipswich) is a London-based visual artist and researcher, working in performance, serial production, and site-specific installation. Education and academic career Twomey attended the Edinburgh College of Art from 199 ...

in the CoCA Gallery of 10,000

slipware Slipware is pottery identified by its primary decorating process where slip is placed onto the leather-hard (semi-hardened) clay body surface before firing by dipping, painting or splashing. Slip is an aqueous suspension of a clay body, whi ...

bowls cast by members of the public. *"Production Line" by Phoebe Cummings.

2016

*"Flesh: Skin and Surface" (23 September 2016–19 March 2017). An exhibition on the representation of flesh. *"Pathways of Patients" (9 December 2016–23 April 2017). An exhibition in the CoCA gallery by six artists commission by the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for post-nominals) is a collegiate research university, located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, co ...

’s Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders (C2D2) to highlights connections between art and science.

2017

*"Kate Haywood – Hoard" (3 August 2017–3 December 2017). An exhibition by

Kate Haywood Kate Emma Haywood (born 1 April 1987) is an English former elite swimmer who competed for Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and represented England in the Commonwealth Games. She competed predo ...

in the CoCA gallery exploring the relationships between people and objects.

2018

*"Sara Radstone: More than Words" (5 January 2018–5 June 2018). An exhibition in the CoCA gallery of more than fifty works by Sara Radstone. *"Lucie Rie: Ceramics & Buttons" (22 June 2018–3 November 2019). An exhibition of small works by

. *"When All is Quiet: Kaiser Chiefs in Conversation with York Art Gallery" (14 December 2018–10 March 2019). An exhibition curated by the

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...

2019

*"Ruskin, Turner & The Storm Cloud: watercolours and Drawings" (29 March 2019–23 June 2019). A partnership exhibition between York Art Gallery and

Abbot Hall Art Gallery Abbot Hall Art Gallery is a museum and gallery in Kendal, England. Abbot Hall was built in 1759 by Colonel George Wilson, the second son of Daniel Wilson of Dallam Tower, a large house and country estate nearby. It was built on the site of the o ...

on works by

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

and J M W Turner. *"Coast to Coast" (26 July 2019–26 July 2020). *"Sounds like Her" (13 July 2019–15 September 2019), an exhibition by women artists on sound art curated by Christine Eyene. *"Making a Masterpiece – Bouts and Beyond (1450–2020)" (11 October 2019–6 January 26, 2020). *"Gillian Lowndes: At the Edge" (23 November 2019 – May 2020), an exhibition of ceramic works by Gillian Lowndes.

2020

*"Harland Miller: York, So Good They Named it Once" (14 February 2020–31 May 2020), an exhibition of paintings by Harland Miller and the largest solo show of the artist to date. *"Human Nature" (21 October 2020–24 January 2021), a digital arts exhibition hosted as part of York Mediale 2020. As a result of new restrictions in England due to the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the gallery was forced to close in November 2020 and the "Human Nature" exhibition was extended until May 2021.

2021

Grayson Perry Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "pre ...

: The Pre-therapy Years' (28 May 2021–5 September 2021), an exhibition in the Centre of Ceramic Art re-introducing works Perry made between 1982 and 1994. *'Pictures of the Floating World: Japanese Ukiyo-e Prints' (opened 28 May 2021), an exhibition featuring

Ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk ta ...

prints.

2022

*A takeover of the gallery by Curious Arts was announced on 9 February. The takeover featured Drag Storytime and workshops in protest-poster making in support of

LGBT History Month LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney ...

. *'Beyond Bloomsbury: Life, Love, and Legacy' (5 March 2022–5 June 2022), an exhibition in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery and Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust explored the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton St ...

. *'Sin' (7 October 2022–22 January 2023), an exhibition in partnership with the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

exploring the concept of sin through art. The exhibition includes classic works by

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...

and

Rembrandt van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

, and contemporary works by

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...

and Ron Mueck.

Artist's Garden

The Artist's Garden is an outdoor exhibition space behind the Art Gallery, within the York Museum Gardens. Sculptural exhibitions have been displayed in this open air space since 2016. Exhibitions have included: *''Foundation Myths'' by Charles Holland (2016–2017) was the first exhibition in the Artist's Garden. *''Leisureland Golf'' by Doug Fishbourne (June–September 2017) was a fully playable crazy-golf course and sculptural installation. *''The Pollinarium'' (27 September – 6 October 2018) was a timber structure, covered with flowering plants and shown as part of the York Mediale. *''Michael Lyons: Ancient and Modern'' (25 May 2019–May 2020) was a series of sculptures by Michael Lyons. It was the first time such a large exhibition of outdoor sculpture had been displayed in York.

Awards

*Visit York Tourism Awards: Visitor Attraction of the Year 2016 (Over 50,000 Visitors category) (winner). *Art Fund: Museum of the Year 2016 (finalist). *Kids in Museums: Family Friendly Museum Award 2016 (winner). *European Museum Forum: European Museum of the Year 2017 (nominated). Special commendation received.

References

External links

York Art Gallery websiteArt UK – Paintings held by York Museums TrustW A Ismay – at the Google Cultural InstituteYorkshire fine art & industrial exhibition, York, 1879 – fine art department
{{Authority control Museums in York Art museums and galleries in North Yorkshire Grade II listed buildings in York Cultural infrastructure completed in 1879 Decorative arts museums in England Ceramics museums in the United Kingdom Art museums established in 1882 1882 establishments in England York Museums Trust