 Walker Art Gallery | |
  Location within Liverpool | |
| Established | 1877 (1877) |
|---|---|
| Location | William Brown Street,Liverpool, England |
| Coordinates | 53°24′36″N02°58′47″W / 53.41000°N 2.97972°W /53.41000; -2.97972 |
| Visitors | 391,765 (2019)[1] |
| Founder | SirAndrew Barclay Walker |
| Architect | Cornelius Sherlock &H. H. Vale |
| Public transit access |   Liverpool Lime Street |
| Website | www |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Walker Art Gallery |
| Designated | 28 June 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1063782 |
TheWalker Art Gallery is aGrade II* listed art gallery inLiverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outsideLondon. It is part of theNational Museums Liverpool group.
The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 when theLiverpool Royal Institution acquired 37 paintings from the collection ofWilliam Roscoe, 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 1851Liverpool Town Council boughtLiverpool 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 includedWF Yeames'And when did you last see your father? andDante Gabriel Rossetti'sDante's Dream.[2]
Designed by local architectsCornelius Sherlock andH. H. Vale, the Walker Art Gallery was opened on 6 September 1877 byEdward 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 wealthybrewer born inAyrshire who expanded the family business to England and moved to live inGateacre.
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 theSecond World War the gallery was taken over by theMinistry of Food 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 includingPicasso andGauguin. In 2002 the gallery re-opened following a major refurbishment.
In 1986 the gallery achieved national status, as part of theNational Museums and Galleries on Merseyside.[3][4]
The gallery is housed in a neo-Classical building located onWilliam Brown Street. The neighbouring area includes theWilliam Brown Library,World Museum Liverpool,St George's Hall,Wellington's Column,Lime Street Station and the entrance to theQueensway Tunnel. The other major art gallery in Liverpool isTate Liverpool, at theAlbert Dock, which houses modern art.
The Walker's collection includes Italian and Netherlandish paintings from 1300 to 1550, European art from 1550 to 1900, including works byGiambattista Pittoni,Rembrandt,Poussin andDegas, 18th and 19th-century British art, including a major collection ofVictorian painting and manyPre-Raphaelite works, a wide collection of prints, drawings and watercolours, 20th-century works by artists such asLucian Freud,David Hockney andGilbert and George and a major sculpture collection.[5] The select collection of minor or decorative arts covers a wide range, from Gothic ivories to British ceramics up to the present day. The gallery also houses the only originalStuart Sutcliffe painting on permanent display in Liverpool.
On 17 December 2011, the Walker Art Gallery got a new addition to its collection – a statue of a priest vandalised byBanksy. The renowned graffiti artist had sawn off the face of an 18th-century replica stone bust and glued on a selection of bathroom tiles. The resulting 'pixellated' portrait is entitledCardinal 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.[6]
As of 2 July 2013, theLa Masseuse sculpture by Edgar Degas, previously owned by Lucian Freud, found a permanent home at the Walker Art Gallery, due to the donation-in-payment system put in place byArts Council England.[7]
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The firstJohn 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.[8]
There is a regular programme of temporary exhibitions which in 2009–10 has includedAubrey Williams,Bridget Riley,Walter Sickert and Freud.[9]
In 2004 the gallery stagedThe Stuckists Punk Victorian, the first national museum exhibition of theStuckist art movement.[10] The gallery also takes part in theLiverpool Biennial.
Media related toWalker Art Gallery at Wikimedia Commons
