York Art Gallery
Encyclopedia
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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
York Castle Museum
York Castle Museum is a museum located in York, North Yorkshire, England, on the site of York Castle, originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068...
and the Yorkshire museum and gardens
York 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 with the Yorkshire Museum which they contain.The gardens are...
.
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
William Etty
William Etty was an English painter, best known for his paintings of nudes.-Beginnings:In accordance with the wishes of his father, Etty served seven years of apprenticeship to a printer in Hull...
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
Frederick Daniel Hardy
Frederick Daniel Hardy was an English genre painter and member of the Cranbrook Colony.-Life:Hardy was born in Windsor in Berkshire, one of six children of George Hardy , a musician to George IV, Queen Adelaide and Queen Victoria in the Royal household at Windsor...
. 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
William Etty
William Etty was an English painter, best known for his paintings of nudes.-Beginnings:In accordance with the wishes of his father, Etty served seven years of apprenticeship to a printer in Hull...
.
The right wing (when facing) is home to the York City Archives.
Sculptures
- Outside the gallery is a life-size sculpture of William EttyWilliam EttyWilliam Etty was an English painter, best known for his paintings of nudes.-Beginnings:In accordance with the wishes of his father, Etty served seven years of apprenticeship to a printer in Hull...
carved in Portland stone. It was sculpted by the local sculptor George MilburnGeorge MilburnGeorge William Milburn was an English footballer who played for Leeds United and Chesterfield.-Biography:Milburn was a member of the famous Milburn footballing family. His cousin Jackie, known as Wor Jackie, played for Newcastle United...
, 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).
Curators and Directors
- 1947–1967 Hans Hess (museologist)Hans Hess (museologist)Hans Hess was a museologist and curator of York Art Gallery.He was born in Erfurt, the son of a successful shoe manufacturer and patron of the arts. The artists Kandinsky, Klee, Feininger and Pechstein were family friends....
- 1967–1977: John Ingamells
- 1977–2002: Richard Green
- 200?–200?: Caroline Worthington
- 2008– : Laura Green