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Artwork of the Month – July 2020

14 Sep 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. Click...

Dudley Holland: The Artist and the Man

13 Sep 2020

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

13 Sep 2020

Lesley Birch, York-based painter, discusses her work and influences Click...

The Portrait of Monsignor Agucchi in York Art Gallery

13 Sep 2020

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

11 Sep 2020

Jake Attree, an artist based in Yorkshire, discusses his work Click...

Artwork of the Month – June 2020

11 Sep 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. Click...

Q&A: Judith Glover, ceramicist

11 Sep 2020

 Judith Glover, ceramic artist and former secretary of the Firends, talks about her artistic practice and creative influences. Click...

Artwork of the Month – May 2020

10 Sep 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...

Artwork of the Month – April 2020

9 Sep 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...

Artwork of the Month: September

2 Sep 2020

This month’s artwork is Albert Moore’s A Venus (1869). Marte Stinis, a PhD student at the University of York, writes about one of the most important paintings in York Art Gallery, by the York-born Victorian artist Albert Moore, a pioneering figure in the...