Artwork of the Month talks are held regularly at the Gallery and speakers are encouraged to submit articles or notes based on their talks for publication here. Most of the talks listed below, however, were produced in the days of the Covid pandemic when in-person talks were not possible.
Wentworth Woodhouse Centaurs
Peter Brown, formerly Director of Fairfax House, York, writes about two beautiful sculptures in the Gallery's collection, the Wentworth Woodhouse Centaurs. Almost certainly the work of Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, they were acquired by the Marquis of Rockingham in 1761 and...
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...
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...
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:...
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...
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...
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
Artwork of the Month – July 2020
Egyptian Head Disappearing into Descending Clouds (1961) by David Hockney Peter Miller, President of the Friends, writes about this preparatory oil sketch by David Hockney, which was acquired by the Gallery in 1999, with financial support from the Friends.
Artwork of the Month – June 2020
The John Cheere Busts in York Art Gallery (mid 18th century). Above the stairs in York Art Gallery, on the left as you go up, there are a number of 18th-century portrait busts. Moira Fulton here explains what these are, and how they come to be in the Gallery.
Artwork of the Month – May 2020
Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball, William Etty (1787 -1849). The painter most closely associated with the City of York is William Etty, whose statue stands outside the Art Gallery, and who is buried in St Olave’s Churchyard. Margaret May, a member of the Friends'...