Graves Art Gallery facts for kids
The Graves Art Gallery is a cool art museum in Sheffield, England. You can find it right above the Central Library in the middle of the city. It's home to amazing art from Britain and Europe. The gallery shows off its own collection and also has special exhibitions that change often.
The art here tells a story about how art has grown over time. You can see different styles and movements through works by famous artists. These include J. M. W. Turner, Alfred Sisley, and Sir Stanley Spencer. You'll also find art by modern artists like Helen Chadwick, Marc Quinn, and Bridget Riley. The gallery is looked after by Museums Sheffield.
History of the Gallery
The Graves Art Gallery was built thanks to a generous businessman named John George Graves. He became rich by running one of the very first mail-order businesses in the country! Mr. Graves also gave nearly 700 paintings from his own art collection to the gallery. Many of these paintings are still on display today. Other kind people, like John Newton Mappin from Mappin and Webb, also helped out.
The Central Library and the Graves Gallery (which is on the third floor) opened in July 1934. It was created to help people learn and enjoy art. This building was super modern for its time! It had special heating, air conditioning, electric clocks that all showed the same time, and even five lifts.
The gallery's first director was John Rothenstein, who later became the director of the famous Tate Gallery. After him, the painter George Hamilton Constantine took over from 1938 until the 1950s. Both Rothenstein and Constantine were very important in making the gallery's collection of 20th-century British art even bigger. They wanted to find amazing and important artworks.
They bought pieces by many well-known artists for the city. These included Walter Sickert, Harold Gilman, Gwen John, C. R. W. Nevinson, Jacob Epstein, Stanley Spencer, William Roberts, Paul Nash, Christopher Wood, David Bomberg, L. S. Lowry, John Minton, Henry Moore, Keith Vaughan, Prunella Clough, and Frank Auerbach.
In the late 1980s, the gallery almost stopped buying new art because there wasn't enough money. But in 1999, Museums Sheffield started buying art again. They got help from groups like the Contemporary Art Society, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Art Collections Fund, and private donors.
Recently, there's been a lot of excitement about modern art. This has allowed the gallery to buy important contemporary artworks. For example, they acquired Marc Quinn’s Kiss and Sam Taylor-Wood’s Self-Portrait Suspended VII. These purchases were made possible with support from the J.G. Graves Charitable Trust, the Art Fund, and the V&A Purchase Grant Fund].
In 2009, the gallery was updated and the artworks were re-arranged. They were grouped by different themes. Some cool recent temporary exhibitions have included The Blk Art Group and Andy Warhol: Late Self-Portraits.
Past Exhibitions
The Graves Art Gallery often hosts special exhibitions that change over time. Here are a few examples of past shows:
Notable Exhibitions
- Andy Warhol-Late Self-Portraits (April 11 – December 1, 2012): This exhibition featured self-portraits by the famous pop artist Andy Warhol.
- The Blk Art Group (August 27, 2011 – March 24, 2012): This show highlighted the work of an important group of Black British artists.
- The Triumph of Maximillian (March 31 – August 13, 2011): This exhibition explored historical artworks related to Emperor Maximilian I.
- Paul Nash and Fay Godwin (July 21, 2010 – March 19, 2011): This show featured works by artist Paul Nash and photographer Fay Godwin.
- Writers of Influence: Shakespeare to J. K. Rowling (April 17 – July 3, 2010): This exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery Collection explored famous writers.
- Robert Mapplethorpe (December 19, 2009 – March 27, 2010): Part of the ARTIST ROOMS on Tour, this featured works by the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
- Hogarth: Industry and Idleness (April 4 – November 7, 2009): This exhibition focused on the famous British artist William Hogarth.
- Graves Gallery 75th Anniversary (April 4 – November 7, 2009): A special exhibition celebrating 75 years of the gallery.
- Moore, Hepworth, Nicholson: A Nest of Gentle Artists (May 20 – August 29, 2009): This show featured works by these three important modern British artists.
