Walker Art Gallery

The Walker Art Gallery is a Grade II* listed art gallery in Liverpool, England, that houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. Part of the National Museums Liverpool group, it occupies a neo-classical building on William Brown Street in the city centre. Founded in 1877 through the benefaction of brewer and former mayor Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, the gallery has grown from a venue for annual exhibitions of contemporary art into a national institution with collections spanning seven centuries. It is often referred to as the 'National Gallery of the North' in recognition of its pre-eminent status among British regional galleries.

The gallery's origins trace to 1819 when the Liverpool Royal Institution acquired 37 paintings from the collection of William Roscoe, though it was not until 1873 that Andrew Barclay Walker announced his gift of a public art gallery. Walker, a wealthy brewer and Conservative who had been elected Mayor of Liverpool that year, pledged to build the gallery at his sole expense, donating £20,000 for its construction. The foundation stone was laid on 28 September 1874 by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and the building was designed by local architects Cornelius Sherlock and H. H. Vale. It opened on 6 September 1877 under the presidency of Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, attracting 324,117 visitors in its first four months.

The gallery was conceived primarily as a venue for the Liverpool Autumn Exhibitions, selling exhibitions of new art modelled on the Royal Academy that had been organised by the municipal council since 1871. Early curators were administrators rather than museum professionals, with effective control resting with the City Council's Arts and Exhibitions Sub-Committee, chaired for decades by the Liberal Unitarian merchant Philip Rathbone. The success of the exhibitions enabled significant acquisitions, and by 1885 the collection exceeded 360 works. Extensions opened in 1884, funded entirely by Walker at £11,500, and in 1933 following a two-year closure during which George Audley, F.C. Bowring and Thomas Bartlettin each donated £10,000.

The gallery closed during the Second World War when the Ministry of Food requisitioned the building; the collection was dispersed for safety. Post-war reconstruction delayed reopening until 1951, when local businessmen donated important works including George Stubbs's Molly LongLegs and a Rembrandt self-portrait. In 1948 the Liverpool Royal Institution formally presented William Roscoe's collection and other works to the gallery. The John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize, established in 1957 and held biennially, became the UK's biggest painting prize. The gallery achieved national status in 1986 as part of the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, and underwent major refurbishment, reopening in 2002.

The Walker's collection developed from its origins as a repository for contemporary British art into comprehensive holdings spanning Italian and Netherlandish painting from 1300 to 1550, European art from 1550 to 1900, and British art from the 18th and 19th centuries. The gallery possesses a major collection of Victorian painting and significant Pre-Raphaelite works, alongside extensive holdings of prints, drawings and watercolours. Its 20th-century collections include works by Lucian Freud, David Hockney and Gilbert and George, and it maintains a major sculpture collection. The decorative arts range from Gothic ivories to British ceramics up to the present day.

Among the gallery's signature works are William Frederick Yeames's And when did you last see your father?, purchased in 1878 for £750, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Dante's Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice, acquired in 1881 for £1,575. These early purchases established a lasting connection with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, deepened by the acquisition of John Everett Millais's Isabella in 1884 and William Holman Hunt's Triumph of the Innocents in 1891. Stanhope Forbes's A Street in Brittany, acquired in 1882, initiated a significant holding of late-impressionist genre painting from the Newlyn School.

In 1960 the gallery acquired Peter Paul Rubens's The Virgin and Child with St Elizabeth and the Child Baptist for £25,000. Other notable works include Giovanni Segantini's Il castigo delle lussuriose (Punishment of Lust), purchased in 1891 for £315, and George Stubbs's Horse Frightened by a Lion, acquired in 1910 for £22. The collection also includes works by Rembrandt, Poussin, Degas, and Giambattista Pittoni. Edgar Degas's sculpture La Masseuse, previously owned by Lucian Freud, entered the collection in 2013 through the Arts Council England donation-in-payment system. The gallery holds the only original Stuart Sutcliffe painting on permanent display in Liverpool, and in 2011 acquired Banksy's Cardinal Sin, a vandalised 18th-century bust with a pixellated tile face commenting on church abuse scandals.

The Walker Art Gallery is housed in a neo-classical building on William Brown Street, described as the only street in the United Kingdom composed entirely of museums, galleries and libraries. The neighbouring area includes the William Brown Library, World Museum Liverpool, St George's Hall, Wellington's Column, Lime Street Station and the entrance to the Queensway Tunnel. The building's entrance features a frieze symbolising the Queen of England in her carriage with escort. The gallery's original 1877 structure was augmented by extensions in 1884 and 1933. The County Sessions House nearby has served as offices and storage for gallery staff.

The Walker Art Gallery is located in Liverpool city centre and is owned and operated by National Museums Liverpool, having achieved national museum status in 1986. The gallery participates in the Liverpool Biennial and maintains a regular programme of temporary exhibitions. Past exhibitions have included work by Aubrey Williams, Bridget Riley, Walter Sickert and Freud, and in 2004 the gallery staged The Stuckists Punk Victorian, the first national museum publicity for the Stuckist art movement. The other major art gallery in Liverpool is Tate Liverpool at the Albert Dock, which specialises in modern art.