Manchester Art Gallery facts for kids

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Manchester Art Gallery


Established	1823; 202 years ago (1823)
Location	Mosley Street, Manchester, England
Collections	approx. 25,000 objects
Collection size	807,000 sq ft (75,000 m²) in 94 galleries
Visitors	514,852 (1 April 2013 – 31 March 2014)
Public transit access	Metrolink: St Peter's Square and Piccadilly Gardens stations
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Manchester Art Gallery
Designated:	25 February 1952
Reference #:	1282980

The Manchester Art Gallery is a cool art museum in the middle of Manchester city centre, England. It used to be called the Manchester City Art Gallery.

It first opened in 1823. Today, it's made up of three buildings connected together. Two of these were designed by a famous architect named Sir Charles Barry. These two buildings are very old and important, so they are 'listed' to protect them. A newer building connects them, designed by Hopkins Architects after a big design contest. The gallery had a big makeover and expansion, reopening in 2002.

The Manchester Art Gallery is free to visit. It's open six days a week, but closed on Mondays. It has more than 25,000 amazing art pieces from both local and international artists. Over half a million people visited the museum in one year, back in 2014!

History of the Gallery
- How it All Started: The Royal Manchester Institution
Who Runs the Gallery?
The Gallery's Buildings
Amazing Art Collections
Highlights of the Collection
- Famous Artists in the Collection
Special Exhibitions
See also

History of the Gallery

How it All Started: The Royal Manchester Institution

A Moor by James Northcote (1826). This was the first artwork the gallery ever bought!

The gallery began as the Royal Manchester Institution in 1823. This was a group of smart people who wanted to promote learning and art. Their first building on Mosley Street is now the main part of the art gallery.

The very first artwork they bought was A Moor in 1827. This painting by James Northcote shows Ira Aldridge, a famous Black actor.

The Royal Manchester Institution opened its doors to the public ten years later. They held art shows and collected beautiful artworks. In 1882, the city of Manchester took over the institution. It then became the Manchester Art Gallery we know today. The city promised to spend money on new art for 20 years. Because of this, the gallery quickly grew its collection with many wonderful artworks. Wealthy people from Manchester also gave many gifts and art pieces.

In 1913, three women protested for women's right to vote. They broke the glass of 13 paintings. Four of these paintings were slightly damaged.

Who Runs the Gallery?

The Manchester Art Gallery is managed by Manchester City Council. This council also looks after other important places like Platt Hall. The director of the gallery, Alistair Hudson, also directs the Whitworth Art Gallery at the University of Manchester. This is a special partnership between the city and the university.

The city council provides money for the gallery. However, the Manchester Art Gallery Trust also helps with funding. This charity raises money from companies and people who want to support the gallery's work. The gallery is usually open every day. On the first Wednesday of each month, it stays open until 9 PM.

The Gallery's Buildings

The Athenaeum, one of the three buildings that make up the Manchester Art Gallery.

The Manchester Art Gallery is made up of three buildings that are connected. The main building on Mosley Street was built between 1824 and 1835. It was originally home to the Royal Manchester Institution.

This building was designed by Sir Charles Barry. He used a style called Greek Ionic, which looks like ancient Greek temples. It's a very important building and is listed as Grade I. It has two floors and a grand entrance with six tall columns.

The Manchester Athenaeum is another building that is part of the gallery. It was also designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1837. This building has an Italian Palazzo style, which looks like grand Italian palaces. The city bought it in 1938 to add more space for the art. It is listed as Grade II*.

In 1994, there was a competition to redesign and connect these old buildings. Michael Hopkins and Partners won the competition in 1995. The gallery closed in 1998 for the big renovation. It reopened in 2002 after a £35 million project.

Amazing Art Collections

The Good Samaritan by G. F. Watts on display.

The gallery has a huge collection of fine art. This includes over 2,000 oil paintings, 3,000 watercolours and drawings, and 250 sculptures. There are also tiny miniatures and about 1,000 prints.

Beyond paintings, the museum has more than 13,000 decorative art objects. These include beautiful ceramics, glass, furniture, and even doll houses! The oldest item is an Egyptian canopic jar from around 1100 BC.

The Manchester Art Gallery is especially famous for its Victorian art. This includes works by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of artists from the 1800s. It also has many beautiful Victorian decorative arts.

You can see several paintings by the French artist Pierre Adolphe Valette. He painted and taught in Manchester in the early 1900s. His paintings show foggy Manchester streets and canals. In the same room, there's a painting by Paul Cézanne. You can see how similar their styles are, even though they painted different places.

L. S. Lowry was one of Valette's students. You can see how Valette's style influenced Lowry's work. The gallery has Lowry's 1954 painting Piccadilly Gardens on display.

The museum also has The Picnic (1908) by Wynford Dewhurst, who was born in Manchester. Annie Swynnerton and Susan Dacre, two female artists from Manchester, also have many paintings in the collection.

The museum also has collections of glass, silverware, and furniture. This includes four pieces by the famous Victorian designer William Burges.

In 2018, the gallery temporarily took down John William Waterhouse's painting Hylas and the Nymphs. They wanted people to talk about how women's bodies are shown in art. Visitors could leave notes with their thoughts. This caused a lot of discussion, and the painting was put back up after a week.

Highlights of the Collection

The Sirens and Ulysses by William Etty, 1837.jpg

William Etty
The Sirens and Ulysses
1837
William Holman Hunt
The Hireling Shepherd
1851
William Holman Hunt
The Light of the World
1851–1856
William Holman Hunt
The Scapegoat
1854–1855
Ford Madox Brown
Work
1865
William Holman Hunt
The Shadow of Death
1870–1873
Waterhouse Hylas and the Nymphs Manchester Art Gallery 1896.15.jpg

John William Waterhouse
Hylas and the Nymphs
1896