Back in June I went to Liverpool for three nights. The main reason for my visit was to go to the Terracotta Warriors exhibition at the World Museum (more of which in a later post) but the first place I visited on arrival in the city was The Walker Art Gallery. One of the largest collections of artwork outside London it began in 1819 when the Liverpool Royal Institute bought 37 paintings from the collection of local philanthropist William Roscoe.
More artworks were collected over the years until the Walker Art Gallery itself was opened on 6 September 1877, named after its benefactor Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, a former mayor of Liverpool. The gallery was closed during the Second World War and taken over by the Ministry of Food, used for the administration and distribution of ration books. It remained closed until 1951.
I really liked the gallery, it’s a nicely designed building with statues of Raphael and Michelangelo at the entrance.
and some beautifully designed stairs and entrance way.
Each of the rooms focuses on a particular era and I decided to follow the (free) map and start in room one – Medieval and Renaissance Art and work my way through to room 15 – Modern and Contemporary. There are some really beautiful art here, I particularly liked the pre-Raphaelites and was surprised to see the Mona Lisa on display – this is of course an early copy by an unknown artist dating from the early 17th century.
Well worth a visit you can find more photos here.
Louise Jayne's Blog 