THREE paintings associated with prominent local artists are to go on show at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery to help celebrate its history.
The museum has joined forces with Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery to bring important works by celebrated Warrington artists to town, thanks to a grant from The Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund.
The museum is one of 13 venues across the country to take part in the funding scheme created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, which aims to support the wider sharing of national collections with museums across the whole of the UK.
This funding comes at the ideal time for Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, as it celebrates three landmark dates this year:
* The 170th anniversary of the founding of the museum in May
* The 170th anniversary of the opening of the original museum in November
* The official 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy, which enjoyed close links with Warrington Art School students, in October.
These dates come hot on the heels of the 160th anniversary of the opening of the building in December last year.
The three pieces on loan from the Walker Art Gallery celebrate
the work of two notable local artists, Sir Luke Fildes and John Warrington Wood.
Both artists were students at Warrington’s School of Art, which was originally housed in the grade II listed building the museum occupies today.
Born in Liverpool, Sir Luke Fildes began his successful painting career after training at the school.
The first of his paintings to come to the museum is the portrait of his wife, Fanny Fildes – s study that helped Fildes secure his reputation as a leading portrait artist, which eventually led to royal commissions from both Edward VII and George V.
This portrait will accompany another of Fildes’ paintings, The Widower, which was first exhibited at the Royal Academy, and helped Fildes gain further recognition as a social realist painter.
The third painting from the Walker Art Gallery is entitled Oxen Drawing a Block of Stone to the Studio of John Warrington Wood in Rome 1872, by Enrico Coleman.
This piece captures an important event in the life of Warrington School of Art pupil John Warrington Wood, who would go on to carve the block depicted in Coleman’s work into the statue of St Michael overcoming Satan. This impressive statue was the impetus for building the main art gallery in Warrington Museum in 1877, and can still be seen in the entrance of the museum today.
Janice Hayes, heritage manager at Culture Warrington – the charity that runs Warrington Museum and Art Gallery and also Pyramid and Parr Hall – said: “We are thrilled to be able to celebrate Warrington’s artistic history by borrowing these exceptional pieces from the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. These prominent artists trained within the walls of this historic building, before going on to exhibit at The Royal Academy, securing international recognition – and, in the case of Luke Fildes, even receiving the royal seal of approval.
“To be able to showcase their work right here where they trained is a real honour and it’s a fantastic way to put the museum, which was once recognised as the earliest public museum in the North West, back on the cultural map.
The three works will be available to view at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery from Saturday May 5 until March 2 next year.
The paintings will join the museum’s Warrington Art Treasures exhibition, which already features many of the most celebrated works by artists such as John Warrington Wood, Luke Fildes and Henry Woods.
