UK Museums: Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
Manchester Art Gallery
The Manchester Art Gallery in Manchester is made up of two 19th century buildings designed by Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) and a 21st century building connecting them.
The buildings are on Mosely Street in the centre of the city.
History
The main Greek iconic style Manchester Art Gallery building dates from 1823 and was built for the Royal Manchester Institution - a scholarly society in the city. The other classical-style building is the Manchester Athenaeum, also by Charles Barry, which opened in 1837.
The Royal Manchester Institution opened to the wider public in the 1830's and continued with regular exhibitions until Manchester City Council took over the premises in the 1880's, when it became City Art Gallery.
In 2015 a new extension was added to the existing brick buildings and won an RIBA prize for architecture. At the same time the originally gallery was completely restored.
Manchester Art Gallery Collection
The gallery has a collection of over 25,000 pieces made up of drawings, miniatures, oil paintings, prints, photography, sculptures and water colours.
Victorian art is particularly well-represented especially Pre-Raphaelite and period decorative arts.
There are works by the British artists Constable, Dacre, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Lowry, Reynolds, Stubbs and Swynnerton among others.
Foreign artists are represented by paintings by Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Pissarro and Renoir.
Of particular interest are paintings of Manchester by the French impressionist, Pierre Adolphe Valette (1876-1942), who lived in Manchester for a period and was the tutor of L.S. Lowry, influencing his work.
Artists who were born or lived in the Manchester area are represented by Wynford Dewhurst, Annie Swynnerton, Susan Dacre and, of course, Lowry.
The Costume Collection previously at Platt Hall in Rusholme has been transferred to the gallery.
The gallery shop is online and sells prints, calendars and a range of art books and catalogues.
Access - Getting to the Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery
Mosley Street
Manchester
M2 3JL
Tel: 0161 235 8888
www: manchesterartgallery.org
Hours
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm with last entry at 3.30 pm.
Closed Good Friday, 1 January, 24 to 26 and 31 December.
Entrance is free.
Public Transport
The art gallery is about 10 minutes on foot from Piccadilly Station. The nearest Metrolink stop is St. Peter's Square. The following buses stop in nearby Chinatown: 34, 34A 36, 37, 38 and 50.
Other excellent museums and art galleries in Manchester include the Manchester Museum, People's History Museum, the Greater Manchester Police Museum, the Whitworth Art Gallery and the Transport Museum.
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