A selection of web postings by members of the Friends about the Gallery and its holdings and the art world in general
Artwork of the Month
May 2021 Portrait of a Young Man with a Book by Parmigianino (1503-40)
April 2021 Charlotte Fitzroy by Peter Lely (1670s)
March 2021 A Stafford Pottery Plaque
February 2021 Sculptures formerly at Wentworth Woodhouse, c. 1755
January 2021 Gulliver Reprimanded and Silenced by his Master when Describing the Horrors of War by Sawrey Gilpin (1733 – 1807)
December 2020 ‘The Kimono’ by Philip Wilson Steer OM, (1894)
November 2020 Portrait of a Man Aged 27 by an Unknown Netherlandish Artist (1556)
October 2020 Portrait of Henry Baines by Thomas Banks (1874)
September 2020 Alfred Wolmark by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska
September 2020 Albert Moore’s A Venus (1869)
August 2020 Liverpool Docks at Night by J Atkinson Grimshaw
July 2020 David Hockney – Egyptian Head Disappearing into Descending Clouds (1961)
June 2020 The John Cheere Busts in York Art Gallery
May 2020 ‘Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball’, by William Etty (1787-1849)
April 2020 Study for ‘Nameless and Shameless’ by Emily Mary Osborn (1828-1925)
Q&A – Interviews with practising artists
Helen Whittaker, York-based stained glass artist and designer
Occasional Essays
Ann Stokes, Potter (1917-2014) by Hannah Savage
Charles Martindale, Interim Chair, writes about a favourite painting in the Gallery’s collection. The Portrait of Monsignor Agucchi in York Art Gallery and the Question of Portraiture
Charles Martindale, reflects on the importance of the Friends for the past and future of York Art Gallery. The Friends in Lockdown
Dr Richard Keesing writes about a favourite modern artist closely associated with York, some of whose works might be described as Neo-Romantic.
Dudley Holland: The Artist and the Man
Ronald Clayton discusses the different ways in which gallery displays might be conceived and organized. Art as Therapy
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Surgeon Waiting by Barbara Hepworth
Artwork of the Month March 2025 Barbara Hepworth, Surgeon Waiting (1948) Dorothy Nott, formerley Chair of the Friends, gave the Artwork of the Month talk for March 2025. Her subject was Surgeon Waiting by Barbara Hepworth.
Stanley Spencer, The Deposition and Rolling Away of the Stone (1956)
Artwork of the Month February 2025 Stanley Spencer, The Deposition and Rolling Away of the Stone (1956) Lauren Marohn, this year’s MA Bursary Holder, has a special interest in modern religious art. Here she writes about one of the Gallery’s most striking images.
An Ancient Stronghold in France by Wynford Dewhurst
Artwork of the Month August 2024 An Ancient Stronghold in France by Wynford Dewhurst Caitlin Doley, Associate Collections Curator at York Art Gallery, writes about a painting by Wynford Dewhurst, ‘Manchester’s Monet’, which was included in the exhibition ‘National...
The Derbyshire Gift
Artwork of the Month July 2024 The Derbyshire Gift Peter Gibbard, former Chair of the Friends, continues his occasional accounts of women artists represented in York Art Gallery’s permanent collection. ‘The Derbyshire Gift’ pertains to five paintings by 20th century...
Winter Sea by Paul Nash
Artwork of the Month June 2024 Winter Sea by Paul Nash Danae Reaves-Bey Browne, MA scholar part-sponsored by the Friends, chose this painting as the subject of her talk at the Gallery. Here are the notes from her talk.
The Road to Calvary by Marten van Cleve
Professor Jeanne Nuechterlein of the History of Art Department, University of York, discusses a favourite painting from the Gallery’s collection. The identity of the artist has long been debated but through her research Jeanne has found the probable solution.
In the Tropics by Patricia Ramsay
Artwork of the Month October 2023 Click on the button below to access the article about Patricia Ramsay's painting, In the Tropics, by Peter Gibbard, formerley Chair of the Friends.
The Flagellation of Saint Barbara by Hans Siebenbürger
Artwork of the Month July 2023 The Flagellation of Saint Barbara by Hans Siebenbürger Click on the button below to read the article by John Roe, Secretary of the Friends, in which he explores the origins and imagery of this fifteenth-century oil-on-wood painting, a...
Captain Foote by Reynolds: an Indian Perspective
Reading Decoloniality in the Portrait of Captain John Foote by Joshua Reynolds, c. 1765: An Indian Perspective. An occasional essay for Friends of York Art Gallery by Kuhu Kopariha, a curator from Mumbai, currently completing her MA in History of Art. She is the...
Still-life by Melendez
Artwork of the Month April 2023 Still-life with Lemons and Nuts by Luis Egidio Meléndez Click on the button below to access the article by Dorothy Nott, former Chair of the Friends, on this painting, a gem of the Gallery's collection. The artist, Meléndez, is...