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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Art as Therapy
Art galleries normally organize their hangs on chronological, historical, or thematic principles, and the labels which guide our looking follow established art-historical priorities and help to determine our response. Ronald Clayton, a members of the Friends comittee,...
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.
Dudley Holland: The Artist and the Man
Dr Richard Keesing, who has a long association with the Friends, writes with great enthusiasm about the life and works of a favourite painter of his, Dudley Holland (1915-1956), who for a short time was Principal of York Art School. The Gallery has a fine example of...
Q&A: Lesley Birch
Lesley Birch, York-based painter, discusses her work and influences
The Portrait of Monsignor Agucchi in York Art Gallery
This essay, by Charles Martindale, Interim Chair of the Friends, is concerned with a painting in the Gallery, The Portrait of Monsignor Agucchi, but it broadens out into discussion of some more general issues: problems of attribution; changing tastes; and the nature...
Q&A: Jake Attree
Jake Attree, an artist based in Yorkshire, discusses his work
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.
Q&A: Judith Glover, ceramicist
Judith Glover, ceramic artist and former secretary of the Firends, talks about her artistic practice and creative influences.
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'...
Artwork of the Month – April 2020
Study for ‘Nameless and Friendless’ by Emily Mary Osborn (1828-1925). Dorothy Nott, a former Chair of the Friends, writes about a remarkable small painting in the Gallery's collection. 'Nameless and Friendless' was painted as a study for a larger work, which was...