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
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Search or browse our collection of articles on topics related to art and artists.
Browse our collection of articles and click a title to select
H.19 (Canticle) by John Golding
Artwork of the Month for August 2121 is a 20th-century abstract painting from York Art Gallery's collection. Intriguingly titled H. 19 (Canticle), the work is by the artist John Golding (1929-2012), who was also an art historian, curator, and educator. Professor...
The Lamp by Amy B Atkinson
Peter Gibbard, former Chair of the Friends of York Art Gallery, has chosen an evocative study of the use of light as his Artwork of the Month. 'The Lamp' is an oil painting by a little-known woman artist, Amy Beatrice Atkinson (1859-1816), who led an interesting life...
‘Refreshing the Weary’ by Robert Hannah
Artwork of the Month for July 2021 is Refreshing the Weary by Robert Hannah (1812-1909). Richard Green, Curator of York Art Gallery from 1977 to 2003, explores the fascinating details of one of the collection’s finest Victorian paintings of a modern-life subject and...
Early history of York School of Design
Simon Spier, a former bursary student of the Friends, has recently published research into the early history of York School of Design. Established in 1842, the school was one of the first provincial branches of the Government School of Design which was set up with the...
Portrait by Parmigianino
The Portrait of a Young Man with a Book by Parmigianino is our Artwork of the Month for May 2021. The painting is a treasure of the Gallery's collection and a significant example of the work of this great artist. It is also a personal favourite of Anne Hall, a...
Artist Q&A: Ealish Wilson textiles artist
Ealish Wilson is a York-based textiles artist whose work is created with traditional skills such as smocking and pleating and complemented by the tools of modern technology like digital printing. Here she is in conversation with Judith Glover, former Secretary of the...
Portrait of Charlotte Fitzroy
Artwork of the Month for April 2021 is one of the highlights of the Gallery collection, the portrait, by Sir Peter Lely, of Charlotte Fitzroy, the illegitimate daughter of King Charles II. The child is shown accompanied by an unidentified page boy. The painting was...
Stafford Pottery Plaque
Artwork of the Month for March 2021 is an earthenware plaque which is on display in the Wall of Pots at York Art Gallery. Sammi Scott, a PHD student at the University of York, explores how this unassuming tile relates to a complex history of copies, forgeries,...
Artist Q&A: Angus Vasili, printmaker
Angus Vasili is a York-based artist and printmaker whose work combines the abstractions of printmaking with the monumental forms of modern architecture. Here he describes his artistic practice to Judith Glover, a former Secretary of the Friends.
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...