Scarborough Art Gallery
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Scarborough Art Gallery is an
art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...
in the English town of
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
. It is housed in a Grade II* Italianate villa in Scarborough’s Crescent, designed by
Richard Hey Sharp Richard Hey Sharp (2 June 1793 – 25 February 1853) was an English architect based in York and responsible for the design, repair and construction of a number of iconic Yorkshire buildings. Early life Richard Hey Sharp was born in 1793 to Richar ...
(1793–1853). The gallery is administered by the Scarborough Museums Trust and is open to the public. Its permanent collection has been developed over the past seventy years through gifts, bequests and purchases.


Art in the Scarborough Art Gallery

The permanent collection includes paintings donated by famous hotelier Tom Laughton (1903–1984), the brother of the film star and actor
Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (; 1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British and American actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play wi ...
. Artists such as
John Atkinson Grimshaw John Atkinson Grimshaw (6 September 1836 – 13 October 1893) was an English Victorian-era artist best known for his nocturnal scenes of urban landscapes.Alexander Robertson, ''Atkinson Grimshaw'', London, Phaidon Press, 1996 H. J. Dyos and ...
, John Jackson, Matthew Smith and
Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator and designer. Brangwyn worked in a wide range of artistic fields. As well as paintings and drawings, he produc ...
are represented in the collection. A number of the works held are by artists connected to Scarborough School of Art – in particular, its head,
Albert Strange Albert Strange (1855–1917) was an English artist and yacht designer. He was the headmaster of the Scarborough School of Art. With George Holmes, he was a mainstay of the Humber Yawl Club which developed the use of sailing canoes with a ya ...
and his students Richard Edward Clarke and William Littlewood. Both
Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs, Castle Hedingham and othe ...
and
Edward Bawden Edward Bawden, (10 March 1903 – 21 November 1989) was an English painter, illustrator and graphic artist, known for his prints, book covers, posters, and garden metalwork furniture. Bawden taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had be ...
, who were close friends, became acquainted with Tom Laughton, who acted as a patron, particularly to Bawden and commissioned pieces from him to adorn his hotels. The Peep Show in the collection was commissioned by Laughton as a plaything for guests at The Royal Hotel. Pieces by John Armstrong are also part of the Laughton gift, some of which were purchased by Tom and some by his brother Charles for their hotels, The Royal and The Pavilion. The idea that the Scarborough Art Gallery should become a repository for the
Printmakers Council The London-based Printmakers Council, founded in 1965, aims to promote the art of printmaking (through providing information, encouraging co-operation and holding exhibitions) and the work of contemporary printmakers. Their office is situated in B ...
archive was first proposed in the early 1990s and the first deposition arrived in 1992. In December 2016 the Printmakers Council agreed to deposit new material on a biennial basis. The range of modern prints includes works by John Piper,
Elizabeth Blackadder Dame Elizabeth Violet Blackadder, Mrs Houston, (24 September 1931 – 23 August 2021) was a Scottish painter and printmaker. She was the first woman to be elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1962, she ...
,
Ossip Zadkine Ossip Alexeevich Zadkine (; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Russian and French artist of the School of Paris. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born o ...
and
Kenneth Rowntree Kenneth Rowntree (14 March 1915 – 21 February 1997) was an English artist. Career and life Kenneth Rowntree was born in Scarborough, the son of Howard Doncaster Rowntree (1879-1974). He was educated at Bootham School, York. He studied at t ...
. The collection also contains posters centred on the town of Scarborough, designed by a variety of artists for the
London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...
. File:Anon (attrib Thomas Gainsborough), Richard Darley, 1783.jpg, Thomas Gainsborough (attributed to), ''Richard Darley'', 1783. Scarborough Collections. File:61, Dade, Frederick, Fishing Boat with Lifeboat, 1903.jpg, Frederick Dade, ''Fishing Boat with Lifeboat'', 1903. Scarborough Collections.


History of the Gallery

The history of the building which today houses Scarborough Art Gallery began in 1828, when local solicitor and Town Clerk, John Uppleby, in partnership with local builders John Barry and his brother William, bought the land on which The Crescent would be built from the wealthy local banker and shipowner, John Tindall. In 1830, the York architect
Richard Hey Sharp Richard Hey Sharp (2 June 1793 – 25 February 1853) was an English architect based in York and responsible for the design, repair and construction of a number of iconic Yorkshire buildings. Early life Richard Hey Sharp was born in 1793 to Richar ...
(who also designed Scarborough's
Rotunda Museum The Rotunda Museum is one of the oldest purpose-built museums still in use in the United Kingdom. The curved grade II* listed building was constructed in 1829 as one of the country's first purpose-built museums. Situated in the English coasta ...
) and his brother Samuel were commissioned to draw up plans for the site. Building in what was to become The Crescent started in 1833 and the two terraces (The Crescent and Belvoir Terrace) were erected to the original design, although the plans for the site originally had seven villas to the south rather than the current four. Crescent Villa was the last of the villas to be built, erected in 1845 as a home for John Uppleby and his family. After John's death in 1856, his wife and family continued to live in the house until her death in 1881, at which time it was bought by Edward Chivers Bower, father of the sculpto
Lady Ethel Alice Chivers Harris
and the great grandfather of
Katharine, Duchess of Kent Katharine, Duchess of Kent (born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley; 22 February 1933) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a grandson of King George V. The Duchess of Kent converted to Catholicism i ...
. Bower renamed the house 'Broxholme' after his family seat near Doncaster. The house stayed in the Bower family until 1904 when it was sold to Miss Mary Evelyn Maud Crompton Stansfield, whose family claimed ancestral connections to the diarist
John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...
. Miss Stansfield used the house as a summer residence and let it out for the rest of the year. In 1924 the house was sold to its last private owner, Henry Edward Donner, a solicitor and a member of one of Scarborough's oldest families, who renamed it ‘Crescent House’. A keen gardener, Donner made many improvements to the gardens including installing the stone gateway to the old Falsgrave Strawberry Gardens, which can still be seen today. Following Henry Donner's death, the house was purchased by Scarborough Corporation in 1942 for £3000 and for five years was used as a welfare clinic and children's nursery. The clinic moved out in February 1947 and the Corporation decided to turn the building into a public art gallery. The Scarborough Art Gallery opened to the public on 17 November 1947.


References


External links

*
Culture 24 – Scarborough Art gallery
__FORCETOC__ {{authority control Art museums and galleries in North Yorkshire Grade II listed buildings in North Yorkshire Art museums and galleries established in 1947 1947 establishments in England