York Art Gallery
York Art Gallery in York, North Yorkshire, England is a public art gallery with a collection of paintings, from 14th century to contemporary, and 20th-century ceramics. It is managed by York Museums Trust, along with York Castle Museum and the Yorkshire museum and gardens.
The building was built for the second Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in 1879, and it became the City Art Gallery in 1892. The main gallery was refurbished in 2005, and is used for special and visiting exhibitions. The building is Grade II listed and overlooks Exhibition Square, which has a 1911 statue of William Etty at its centre.
It is said (Fisher, ISBN 071399575, p.413) to have been founded with a bequest from John Burton, a local businessman. Burton's taste was for 19th-century painters such as Frederick Daniel Hardy. The gallery also inherited "Bustos and Images" from Kirkleatham Museum.
The same author says that "the story of York Art Gallery under Hess, Ingemells and Green is proof that given high standards of scholarship, a love for good painting and curators who have confidence in their judgement, a gallery can prosper. At York the priorities have been right. The gallery glows with the idiosyncratic excellence of the paintings on its walls".
Since 1911 the gallery has been collecting works by York-born painter William Etty.
The right wing (when facing) is home to the York City Archives.
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[edit] Sculptures
- Outside the gallery is a life-size sculpture of William Etty carved in Portland stone. It was sculpted by the local sculptor George Milburn, and unveiled to the public on 20 February 1911. The centenary of this event in 2011 was commemorated by the major retrospective (June 2011 - January 2012) entitled "William Etty: Art and Controversy", with a book of the same name.
- Etty is also represented in one of the four roundels above York Art Gallery's entrance. The other roundels contain other famous York artists: John Carr (1723-1807, architect), John Camidge (1734-1803, musician), and John Flaxman (1787-1849, painter).
[edit] Curators and Directors
- 1947–1967 Hans Hess (museologist)
- 1967–1977: John Ingamells
- 1977–2002: Richard Green
- 200?–200?: Caroline Worthington[1]
- 2008– : Laura Green[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Worthington, Caroline. "Refurbishment of York Art Gallery". Axis: the online directory for contemporary art. http://www.axisweb.org/seCuratorProjectDetails.aspx?PID=131. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Curator's corner". Friends of York Art Gallery Newsletter. January 2009. pp. 8. http://www.friendsofyorkartgallery.co.uk/dec08news.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-03. ""I've been now in post for six months""
[edit] External links
- York Art Gallery website
- Details from listed building database (463359) . Images of England. English Heritage.
Coordinates: 53°57′46″N 1°05′11″W / 53.962873°N 1.086278°W
