Temple Newsam is a magnificent Tudor-Jacobean house outside Leeds (LS15 0AE).
Fisher (p.391) calls it "the north's best-kept secret", referring particularly to its collection of old masters. Others refer to it as 'the Hampton Court of the North'.
Newsam was owned by the Ingrams from 1640. The park was designed by Capability Brown, and the pile then came via Lord Halifax to Leeds City Council in 1922. On the way, Halifax bequeathed not only the house and its magnificent grounds (which now includes a working farm), but also 85 original pictures.
Its collection includes works by Stubbs and Sto"m, and Ingram family portraits by Reynolds, Hoppner and Russell . "The resulting museum is a triumph". It also has furniture by Chippendale, silver by de Lameria.
Fisher comments (p.393) that "The pleasures of this unusual collection are increased ... by the lighting, or the absence of it. Artificial lighting has been kept to a minimum, so that we see the paintings in a 'natural' state. The experience is quite different from the highly lit, dramatic presentation of contemporary galleries, and makes us see pictures with fresh eyes" (emph. added).
The ceilings are especially noteworthy - Rococo plasterwork by Thomas Perritt and Joseph Rose of York, who also in 1747 jointly decorated Doncaster Mansion House.
Fisher (p.394) calls this "one of the country's finest small collections of fine and decorative arts", and singles out for praise the successive directors of Leeds Art Gallery: Sir Philip Hendy (1935-45), Ernest Musgrave (1946-58), Robert Rowe (1958-63), and Christopher Gilbert (1983-95). Verily; all good culture starts in the north!
==York Art Gallery==
Fisher also extols York Art Gallery.
[[image:York Art Gallery.jpg|thumb|right|York Art Gallery and statue of William Etty, by Stanley Howe]]
'''York Art Gallery''' in [[York]], [[North Yorkshire]], [[England]] is a public art gallery with a collection of paintings, from 14th century to contemporary, and 20th century ceramics. It is managed by York Museums Trust, along with [[York Castle Museum]] and the [[York Museum Gardens|Yorkshire museum and gardens]].
The building was built for the second Yorkshire Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition in 1879, and it became the City Art Gallery in 1892. The main gallery was refurbished in 2005, and is used for special and visiting exhibitions. The building is Grade II [[listed building|listed]] and overlooks Exhibition Square, which has a 1911 statue of [[William Etty]] at its centre.
It is said (Fisher, ISBN 071399575, p.413) to mhave been founded with a bequest from John Burton, a local businessman. Burton;s taste was for 19th-century painters such as [[Frederick Daniel Hardy]]. The gallery also inherited "Bustos and Images" from [[Kirkleatham Museum]].
The same author says that ''"the story of York Art Gallery under Hess, Ingemells and Green is proof that given high standards of scholarship, a love for good painting and curators who have confidence in their judgement, a gallery can prosper. At York the priorities have been right. The gallery glows with the idiosyncratic excellence of the paintings on its walls".''
Since 1911 the gallery has been collecting works by York-born [[William Etty]].
The right wing (when facing) is home to the York City [[Archives]].
==Curators and Directors==
* 1947-1967 [[Hans Hess (museologist)]]
* 1967-1977: [[John Ingamells]]
* 1977-2002: [[Richard Green]]
== External links ==
*[http://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/ York Art Gallery website]
*{{IoE|463359}}
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
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