Whitworth Art Gallery

Last updated

The Whitworth
Whitworth Gallery.JPG
Former name
The Whitworth Institute and Park
Established1889
Location Manchester, England
Coordinates 53°27′37″N2°13′46″W / 53.460278°N 2.229444°W / 53.460278; -2.229444 Coordinates: 53°27′37″N2°13′46″W / 53.460278°N 2.229444°W / 53.460278; -2.229444
Founder Robert Darbishire
Director Alistair Hudson
Owner University of Manchester
Website www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

The Whitworth is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing about 55,000 items in its collection. The gallery is located in Whitworth Park and is part of the University of Manchester.

Contents

In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transformed by a £15 million capital redevelopment that doubled its exhibition spaces, restored period features and opened itself up to its surrounding park. The gallery received more than 440,000 visitors in its first year and was awarded the Art Fund's Museum of the Year prize in 2015. [1]

In June 2017, Maria Balshaw stepped down as the director to take up her new role as the Director of Tate. Nick Merriman was acting Interim Director of the Whitworth[ citation needed ]

On 11 October 2018 it was announced that Alistair Hudson would be the new Director of Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth. Hudson, previously Director at MIMA, is a co-director of the Asociación de Arte Útil.[ citation needed ]

History

The gallery was founded in 1889 by Robert Dukinfield Darbishire with a donation from Sir Joseph Whitworth, as The Whitworth Institute and Park. The first building was completed in 1908. [2] In 1958 the gallery became part of the University of Manchester. [3]

In October 1995 the mezzanine court in the centre of the building was opened. The new gallery, designed chiefly for the display of sculpture, won a RIBA regional award. [4] In 2010 the art gallery received 172,000 visitors, making it one of Greater Manchester's ten most-visited tourist attractions. [5]

In February 2015, the Whitworth reopened after a £15 million capital redevelopment and received over 440,000 visitors in its first reopening year. It was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize and won the Art Fund's Museum of the Year [1] in 2015.

2003 theft

On Saturday 26 April 2003, three paintings — Van Gogh's The Fortification of Paris with Houses, Picasso's Poverty and Gauguin's Tahitian Landscape – were stolen from the gallery. [6] [7] They were later found rolled up in a nearby public toilet and were subsequently put back on display. [8]

Architecture

The Grade II listed gallery was built between 1895 and 1900 in a free Jacobean style to the designs of J.W. Beaumont. The gallery consisting two storeys and a basement is constructed of red brick with bands and dressings of matching terracotta and has green slate roofs. Its nine-bay main range has two towers and a large projecting semi-circular porch with a screen of paired stone Ionic columns and a stone frieze below a balustraded parapet. [9]

Refurbishment and extension

The Whitworth Gallery extension Whitworth Gallery extension (16967657572).jpg
The Whitworth Gallery extension

An architectural competition was launched by RIBA Competitions to design an extension in 2008 and funding was secured in February 2011. [10] [11] In September 2013 the gallery closed for refurbishment and extension works. [12] The £15 million redevelopment was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the University of Manchester. [12] The refurbishment works, undertaken by architects MUMA envisaged the gallery reopening to the public by summer 2014, [12] but complications delayed the opening. [13]

The development includes expanded gallery areas, a learning studio, study centre, an art garden and cafe. Developers have constructed a glass, stainless steel and brick extension consisting of two wings which extend into Whitworth Park from the back of the gallery building. The wings are connected by a glass promenade. The extension means the gallery is a third larger than previously. [13]

The extension, which opened on 14 February 2015 doubles the gallery's public space. It will provide more space for displaying the 55,000 items in the gallery's collection and link the building to Whitworth Park. [14]

The refurbishment and extension work resulted in the development winning a RIBA National Award in 2015 and subsequently being shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize. [15] The Whitworth won the Art Fund's Museum of the Year award in 2015. [1]

Collections

The Whitworth has notable collections of watercolours, sculptures, wallpapers and textiles. The gallery focuses on modern artists, and the art collections include works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Ford Madox Brown, Eduardo Paolozzi, Francis Bacon, William Blake, David Hockney, L. S. Lowry, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, and a fine collection of works by J. M. W. Turner. One of its most famous works is the marble sculpture Genesis (1929–31) by Sir Jacob Epstein. It also houses the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection. [16] [ circular reference ] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

University of Manchester Public university in Manchester, England

The University of Manchester is a public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester City Centre on Oxford Road. The university owns and operates major cultural assets such as the Manchester Museum, Whitworth Art Gallery, John Rylands Library, The Tabley House Collection and Jodrell Bank Observatory—a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tate St Ives Modern art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England

Tate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England, exhibiting work by modern British artists with links to the St Ives area. The Tate also took over management of another museum in the town, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, in 1980.

Stirling Prize British prize for excellence in architecture

The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The RIBA Stirling Prize is presented to "the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to the evolution of architecture in the past year." The architects must be RIBA members. Until 2014 the building could be anywhere in the European Union, but since 2015 has had to be in the UK. In the past the award has come with a £20,000 prize, but currently it carries no prize money.

Manchester Art Gallery Art gallery in Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three connected buildings, two of which were designed by Sir Charles Barry. Both Barry's buildings are listed. The building that links them was designed by Hopkins Architects following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions. It opened in 2002 following a major renovation and expansion project undertaken by the art gallery.

William Morris Gallery Museum and exhibitions in Walthamstow, London

The William Morris Gallery is a museum devoted to the life and works of William Morris, an English Arts and Crafts designer and early socialist. It is located in Walthamstow at Water House, a substantial Grade II* listed Georgian home. The extensive grounds of the building are a public park, known as Lloyd Park.

Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, housing a range of exhibits, including Renaissance art, taxidermy, and artifacts from ancient Egypt.

Preston bus station Bus station in Preston, Lancashire, England

Preston bus station is the central bus station in the city of Preston in Lancashire, England. It was built by Ove Arup and Partners in the Brutalist architectural style between 1968 and 1969, to a design by Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson of Building Design Partnership with E. H. Stazicker.

The McManus

The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum is a Gothic Revival-style building, located in the centre of Dundee, Scotland. The building houses a museum and art gallery with a collection of fine and decorative art as well as a natural history collection. It is protected as a Category A listed building.

Aberdeen Art Gallery Visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland

Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1884, in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, with a sculpture court added in 1905. In 1900 it received the art collection of Alexander Macdonald, a local granite merchant. The gallery is noted for its fine collection of modern Scottish and international art, including works by Ken Currie, Gilbert & George, Ivor Abrahams, Bridget Riley and Bruce McLean.

Victor Musgrave (1919–1984) was a British poet, art dealer and curator. Described by David Sylvester as a 'true pioneer' Musgrave was the first gallerist to show Bridget Riley and was a champion of Art Brut.

Royal Albert Memorial Museum Museum in Devon, England

Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) is a museum and art gallery in Exeter, Devon, the largest in the city. It holds significant and diverse collections in areas such as zoology, anthropology, fine art, local and overseas archaeology, and geology. Altogether the museum holds over one million objects, of which a small percentage is on permanent public display. It is a 'Major Partner Museum' (MPM) under the Arts Council England administered programme of strategic investment, which means RAMM receives funding (2012–15) to develop its services. RAMM receives this funding in partnership with Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery. Previously they were described as 'hub museums' under the 'Renaissance' Programme for regional museums which operated between 2002–11 and funded by the now defunct Museums Libraries & Archives Council (MLA).

Stanton Williams is a British architectural design practice based in Islington, London.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios is a British architectural design firm, established in 1978, with offices in Bath, London, Manchester, Belfast and Edinburgh. The firm is known for its pioneering work in sustainable design and social design agenda.

The Hepworth Wakefield Art Gallery in West Yorkshire, England

The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born and educated in the city. It is the successor of the municipal art collection, founded in 1923 as Wakefield Art Gallery, which spans the Old Masters to the twentieth century.

The year 2012 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

RIBA Competitions is the Royal Institute of British Architects' unit dedicated to organising architectural and other design-related competitions.

The year 2015 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Maria Jane Balshaw CBE is director of the Tate art museums and galleries. The appointment was confirmed by the UK Prime Minister on 16 January 2017, making her the first female director of the Tate.

Hugh Giles Keyworth Broughton is an English architect and one of the world's leading designers of polar research facilities. His practice, Hugh Broughton Architects, was founded in 1995 and is based in London, works internationally. The practice has won several high profile international design competitions, including Halley VI Research Station, Juan Carlos 1 Spanish Antarctic Base, the Atmospheric Watch Observatory in Greenland for the US National Science Foundation and a new health facility on Tristan da Cunha, the world's most remote inhabited island. As of 2020, current polar work includes the redevelopment of Scott Base for Antarctica New Zealand, designed in collaboration with Jasmax; and the modernisation of the Rothera Research Station for the British Antarctic Survey (2023). In 2019 the practice completed the conservation of the Grade I listed Painted Hall in the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1696.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pes, Javier (2 July 2015). "Whitworth named UK museum of the year". The Art Newspaper . Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  2. Edward Morris (2001), Public Art Collections in North-West England: A History and Guide, Liverpool University Press, ISBN   0-85323-527-9
  3. "History".
  4. "Launch of Architecture Week North West: 16– 25 June". Arts Council / Architecture Week. 1 June 2006. Archived from the original (doc) on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
  5. Brooks-Pollock, Tom (30 November 2011). "Lowry gallery and theatre is most popular tourist attraction in Greater Manchester". Manchester Evening News . menmedia.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  6. BBC News (28 April 2003). "Art masterpieces stolen in raid" . Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  7. Judith Moritz (28 April 2003). BBC News 24 (ram). BBC News. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  8. BBC News (28 April 2003). "Stolen paintings can be repaired" . Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  9. Historic England. "Whitworth Gallery (1246569)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  10. "The Whitworth Art Gallery's new designs". Manchester Confidential. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  11. "Whitworth Art Gallery gets £8m to double public space". BBC News. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  12. 1 2 3 Bainbridge, Pete (4 September 2013). "Whitworth Art Gallery closes doors for year-long £15m revamp". Manchester Evening News. Manchester. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  13. 1 2 Walters, Sarah (16 September 2014). "Whitworth Gallery confirms February reopening following delays with the ambitious redesign". Manchester Evening News. Manchester. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  14. "The Tales of One City". artsindustry.co.uk. 17 June 2011. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016.
  15. "Whitworth gallery extension up for Stirling architecture prize". BBC News. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  16. Victor Musgrave
  17. "Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art | Whitworth Art Gallery". whitworth.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2019.