ART
LIVERPOOL is the city with the greatest array of art on display in Britain, bar London. You would need several days to even attempt to see everything in Liverpool's galleries, especially with LIVERPOOL BIENNIAL being held in autumn 2004 (see below).
On a day trip you could spend a few hours in the Walker (Rembrandt, Monet, Poussin, Degas, Gainsborough, Turner, Rubens, Stubbs, Freud and Hockney, for instance) then the afternoon in the Tate, with its modern art, but that might be rushing it.
And you still would not have set foot in the FACT, Open Eye, View Two, University nor Mathew Street galleries in the city centre, nor Sudley House (Landseer, Turner, Gainsborough and Reynolds) in the suburb of Mossley Hill.
Stay a few days and you might also have time to visit the Lady Lever Gallery (Reynolds, Romney, Rossetti, Constable, Gainsborough, Turner) in Port Sunlight and the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead.
Here
seeliverpool.com offers a guide to the galleries of Merseyside and outlines
Liverpool Biennial.
TATE
LIVERPOOL
Has Britain's largest gallery of modern and contemporary art outside
London. The Tate Modern in London is fashioned on the success of Tate
Liverpool, which is located at the Albert Dock.
The name comes from Henry Tate of Tate & Lyle who started the sugar business in Liverpool and later created the London Tate as a gift to the nation. The displays at Tate Liverpool can be divided into two. There are displays of works from the Tate Collection, to which admission is free. There are also special exhibitions, for which there is an admission fee, normally £3 for adults.
In addition,
there are gallery talks, informal half-hour tours, family events, lectures
and study days. Tate Liverpool is generally open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-6pm.
For details, phone 0151 702 7400; recorded info, 0151 702 7402. www.tate.org.uk/liverpool
Period furniture and decorative art are displayed alongside bronze and
marble sculpture and paintings. In the Sculpture Gallery, the centrepiece
is John Gibson's marble statue, The Tinted Venus. The Walker Art Gallery,
William Brown Street, L3 8EL. Phone 0151 478 4199. This is close to Lime
Street train station, to the right of St George's Hall. Admission free.
www.nmgm.org.uk/walker/index.html
MATHEW STREET GALLERY VIEW TWO SUDLEY HOUSE FACT LIVERPOOL BIENNIAL OPEN EYE LADY LEVER ART GALLERY Situated around six miles from Liverpool city in picturesque Port Sunlight,
a turn of the century model village. Gallery is few minutes walk from
Bebington rail station, ten minutes from Port Sunlight rail station. L62
5EQ. Open, Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sunday, 12noon-5pm. Admission
free. Phone 0151 478 4136. www.nmgm.org.uk/ladylever/index.html
BLUECOAT ARTS CENTRE Its 'cutting edge' approach means that the Bluecoat is often ahead of
the game. For example, 2001 Turner Prize winner Martin Creed made his
mark at the Bluecoat in summer 2000 when he filled its gallery with red
balloons in which visitors could walk around. The Bluecoat is a Grade
1 listed building, completed in the 1720s, which began as a school. For
the last century it has been a centre for the arts and a meeting place.
Its elegant Queen Anne style architecture, cobbled front courtyard and
beautiful 'secret garden' stand less than 100 yards from the chain stores
of Church Street. Bluecoat Arts Centre, School Lane, L1 3BX. Phone 0151
709 5297. www.bluecoatartscentre.com
UNIVERSITY of LIVERPOOL GALLERY LIVERPOOL ACADEMY of ARTS Please note that all details are subject to change. You may wish to
check opening times, by using the links, or by phoning.
LIVERPOOL GALLERY
WALKER
ART GALLERY
This grand Victorian
building, which opened in 1887, has a fascinating range of paintings from
Old Masters to Pre-Raphaelites and beyond, from Rembrandt to Monet and Matisse.
Many of its greatest treasures were brought together by eminent 19th century
collectors who made their fortune from the thriving port of Liverpool.
Specialising in the art of John Lennon and the Beatles era. A commercial
gallery, with pictures for sale, it is open Mondays to Saturdays, 10.30am
to 5.30pm. Sundays, 11am to 4pm. Admission free. Situated next to Reiss,
up a flight of stairs, at 31 Mathew Street, L2 6RE. Phone 0151 236 0009/0192.
www.lennonart.co.uk
Probably the biggest commercial picture space in the North West, with
five exhibition areas over three floors. Situated in Mathew Street, next
to The Grapes pub, up a flight of stairs. Admission free. Generally open:
Thursdays to Saturdays, 12noon to 4pm. View Two Gallery, 23 Mathew Street,
L2 6RE. Phone 0151 236 9555. Note that its sister gallery The View has
moved from Hanover Street to join View Two in Mathew Street. www.theviewgallery.com
This
is one of many Victorian merchants' houses in Liverpool that had their
own private art collection. The display includes works by Corot, Gainsborough,
Landsser and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Also two Turners and a Bonington.
Victorian decor and furniture. Situated three miles from the city centre
in Mossley Hill Road, Aigburth L18 8BX. Open, Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm;
Sunday, 12noon-5pm. Admission free. Phone 0151 724 3245. www.nmgm.org.uk/sudley/index.html
The new kid on the block of Liverpool art, and a high-tech one at that.
A specialist venue for the exhibition, support and development of digital
art and new media projects. Also art-house cinema. Opened in 2003 in Wood
Street (top half), L1 4DQ. Phone 0151 707 4450. www.fact.co.uk
September 18 to November 28, 2004 One of the major art events in Britain,
it consists of four main exhibition strands: THE INTERNATIONAL - new works
by international artists invited to Liverpool commissioned especially
for the city. THE INDEPENDENT -a series of exhibitions generated by artists,
architects, filmmakers and others, with venues ranging from established
galleries to disused buildings. JOHN MOORES 23 - Britain's leading open
competition for contemporary painters, established in 1957. Former winners
include a young David Hockney. BLOOMBERG NEW CONTEMPORARIES - Generating
critical debate in the visual arts. For more details, phone 0151 709 7444.
www.biennial.org.uk
A photographic gallery that has endeavoured over the last 25 years to
maintain the prominent role of Liverpool in the development of this art
form. The city was the setting for the world's first chain of commercial
photographers and the first photographic magazine. In 1996 the gallery
re-launched in premises refurbished by the National Lottery. These are
in Wood Street, around 200 yards from Central Station. Generally the gallery
is open Tuesdays to Fridays, 10.30am to 5.30pm; Saturdays, 10.30am to
5pm. But gallery is closed for several days between exhibitions. Admission
is free. Open Eye, 28-32 Wood Street, L1 4AQ. Phone 0151 709 9460. www.openeye.org.uk
Superb
Pre-Rapaelite paintings, including works by Millais, Holman Hunt, Ford
Madox Brown, Rossetti and Burne-Jones. Also magnificent collections of
Wedgwood, Chippendale and Chinese porcelain.
An innovative centre for the contemporary arts, the Bluecoat offers a
programme of visual and performing arts, educational activities plus a
community of artists and creative businesses.
This has been developing over 120 years and is based on gifts by art collectors
Open: Monday to Fridays, 12noon to 4pm, but these hours are occasionally
extended. Closed bank holidays and during August. Admission free. 3 Abercromby
Square, L69 7WY. Phone: 0151 794 2347/8. email: www.liv.ac.uk/artgall
36 Seel Street, Phone 0151 709 0735. www.la-art.co.uk
You can visit this before setting foot in Liverpool, right now even. This
website gallery showcases photography and paintings by artists based in
the Liverpool locale. Virtually brilliant. Most of the exhibits are for
sale. www.liverpoolgallery.co.uk