Museums and art galleries are founded mostly aiming for a learned society: to educate and enlighten the community. In this regard, the historical function and the role of museums and their significance are undisputed: art galleries also play a similar role. Whenever and wherever I travel, the local museums and art galleries are on top of my list. They reflect the cultural ethos of the land and give an insight into their history. Here, in this series of ‘Art across the globe’, I shall try and bring some interesting art to the readers: interesting, as most of them tell a story. Most people while travelling may not get enough time to gaze at a painting to fully enjoy its beauty or get its background. Here I shall discuss some selected paintings fromthe Manchester Art Gallery (Manchester, England). The gallery has fine art collection consisting of more than 2,000 oil paintings, 3,000 water-colours and drawings, 250 sculptures, 90 miniatures and around 1,000 prints.
A look at selected artworks from manchester art gallery in england
‘PRINCE ARTHUR AND HUBERT’ 1882
William Frederick Yeams 1835-1918
(Oil on canvas)
The rope on the floor to the right of this picture reveals Hubert’s dreadful purpose. Little Prince Arthur must be boundand his eyes burned out with hot irons at the order of KingJohn, the child’suncle. Hubert’s face expresses his emotional struggle between compassion and fear of disobeying the King. The scene occurs in Shakespeare’s play “King John”, which is very loosely based on historical events following the death of Richardthe Lionheart in 1199. One reviewer found the painting trivial andanti-heroic but another commended it for its human appeal as ‘a scene in which deep pity for the helpless is aroused.’
‘THE SIRENS AND ULYSSES’ 1837
William Etty (1787-1849)
Etty was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude figures. Hewas the first significant British painter of nudes and still lives. Born in York, he left schoolat the age of 12 to become an apprentice printer. The subject is from the ancient Greekpoem The Odyssey. It represents the scene from Homer’s narrative where Ulysses leads his men past the monstrous Sirens. In mythology, these creatures lure sailors to their island with songs so enchanting that men die listening. Ulysses escapes the sirens by beinglashed to his ship, and by ordering his men to stuff their ears with wax. The artist modelledthe dead bodies in the foreground on real corpses, which he had sketched in morgues. Etty considered this one of his most important works. Unusually large, it demonstrateshis favourite approach: a grand subject combined with sensuous figure painting, here emphasising sexual as well as musical temptation on the part of the Sirens. Often derided by the critics for the overt nudity in his work, Etty was particularly scorned for “The Sirens and Ulysses” because of its juxta position of ‘nudity’ and ‘death’. This painting was bought from the artist by Daniel Grant, a cotton mill owner from Manchester.
WINTER FUEL’ 1873
John Everett Millais (1829-96)
This is one of a number of large Scottish landscapes Millais painted periodically during his later career. The view here is of Birnam Hillin Perthshire, near where Millais was living at the time. Winter Fuel is wonderfully atmospheric, evoking a mood of melancholy contemplation. When first exhibited at the Royal Academy, London it was accompanied by a line from Shakespeare’s Sonnet73, ‘Bare ruined choirs, where once the sweet birds sang’. The sonnet reinforces the idea of autumn as ametaphor for the painter’s own passing years. Contemporary critics praised the painting for its workmanship and for lifting realism into a new realm by the masterly use of colour.
‘SAMSON BETRAYED’ 1850
Frederick Richard Pickersgill 1820-1900 (Oil on canvas)
This painting is based on the Biblical story of Samson. The hero sleeps across his treacherous lover Delilah, who calls for an accomplice to cut the strongman’s hair, the key to his great physical power. When the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London Pickers gill was praised for his figures and his use of colour. Critics also highlighted the artist’s restraint – “It is a subject so liable to coarseness and violence that we congratulate Mr. Pickersgill on his complete freedom from these defects. Etty could not have been trusted with it.” William Etty was the leading figure painter of the age who exercised a major influence over Pickersgill.
‘ONLY A LOCK OF HAIR’ ABOUT 1857-8
ohn Everett Millais (1829-96)
The young lady is cutting off a lock of her hair. The far away thoughtfulness of her face suggests all sorts of possibilities lying behind this moment. Hair became significant in the Victorian world; a lock like this was used as a memento of love, birth or death. The severe formal hairstyles of Victorian women were rejected by the Pre-Raphaelites who saw free-flowing hair and loose dresses as releases from the stifling rules of convention. Millais’ enigmatic works such as this, blending portrait and narrative, were very popular. Millais was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngeststudent to enter the Royal Academy Schools.
Vijaya Pratap is a freelance journalist and a documentary filmmaker, based in Hyderabad. She specialises in the study of art, culture, history and wildlife.
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