Search our collection of articles on art and artists

To search our collection for articles of interest, use the search window on this page or browse the entries below. These may be write-ups of Artwork of the Month talks or occasional essays written by members of the Friends. There are also a number of Q&A’s with curators and artists which can be found by searching for ‘Q&A’.

Gulliver and the Houyhnhnms

This month's chosen artwork is 'Gulliver reprimanded and silenced by his master when describing the horrors of war' by Sawrey Gilpin (1733-1807) The Friends’ Secretary Benjamin Hilliam, describes how the artist's interest in animal welfare and anthropomorphism is...

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Q&A: Alison Taylor seascape photographer

Alison Taylor is a seascape photographer and Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, whose work creates dramatic images of the Yorkshire coast. Here she is in conversation with Judith Glover, a former secretary of the Friends.  

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Kimono by Philip Wilson Steer

This month's chosen artwork is The Kimono (1894) by Philip Wilson Steer. Helena Cox, who is Curator at Beverley Art Gallery and currently completing a Doctorate at the University of York, discusses this small masterpiece, setting it in the context of Japonism, the...

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Portrait of a young man, 1556

November's Artwork of the Month has been chosen by Jeanne Nuechterlein, Reader in History of Art at the University of York, and member of the FYAG committee. This intriguing portrait of a young man, painted in 1556, featured in the exhibition  ‘Making a Masterpiece:...

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Portrait of Henry Baines, Botanist of York

The portrait of Henry Baines, the botanist and creator of York's Museum Gardens, was painted in 1874 by the Yorkshire artist Thomas Banks (1828-1896). Its recent conservation has been fully funded by the Friends of York Art Gallery. Peter Hogarth, a member of the...

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Alfred Wolmark by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

The bust of Alfred Wolmark by Henri Gaudier-Brzeskaby attracts the attention of visitors to the Burton Gallery at York Art Gallery, but who was he, and why was he sculpted by Gaudier-Brzeskaby? Dorothy Nott investigates the background to this exceptionally striking...

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Ann Stokes, Potter (1922-2014)

The CoCA collection at York Art Gallery includes four ceramic pieces by Ann Stokes – The White Wall Mounted Swan, The Trigger Fish Serving Platter, the Globe Fish, and the Swan Looking Glass. Hannah Savage, a member of York Art Gallery's Visitor Experience Team,...

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Artwork of the Month – August 2020

Liverpool Docks at Night by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893). Charles Martindale discusses this important new acquisition by the Gallery. Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893), Liverpool Docks at Night, 1870s, oil on canvas. York Museums Trust

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Q&A: Helen Whittaker, Barley Studio

Helen Whittaker, stained glass artist and sculptor, is Creative Director at Barley Studio, Dunnington, York. Here, in dialogue with Judith Glover, she talks about her artistic practice and creative influences.

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