Warrington Museum Welcomes New Paintings As Part Of Anniversary Celebrations

Warrington Museum & Art Gallery is proud to unveil three new exhibits as part of an exciting project to celebrate its remarkable history.

The museum has joined forces with Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery to bring important works by celebrated Warrington artists to town, thanks to a grant from The Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund.

Warrington Museum & Art Gallery is one of 13 venues across the country to participate in the funding scheme created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, which aims to support the wider sharing of national collections with museums across the whole of the UK.

This funding comes at the ideal time for Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, as it celebrates three landmark dates this year:

- The 170th anniversary of the founding of the museum in May

- The 170th anniversary of the opening of the original museum in November

- The official 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy, which enjoyed close links with Warrington Art School students, in October.

These dates come hot on the heels of the 160th anniversary of the opening of the building, which took place in December last year.

The three pieces coming to the museum on loan from the Walker Art Gallery celebrate the work of two notable local artists, Sir Luke Fildes and John Warrington Wood.

Both artists were students at Warrington's School of Art, which was originally housed in the grade II listed building the museum occupies today.

Born in Liverpool, Sir Luke Fildes began his successful painting career after training at the school.

The first of his paintings to come to the museum is the portrait of his wife, Fanny Fildes. This beautiful portrait helped Fildes secure his reputation as a leading portrait artist, which eventually led to royal commissions from both Edward VII and George V.

This portrait will accompany another of Fildes' paintings, The Widower, which was first exhibited at the Royal Academy, and helped Fildes gain further recognition as a social realist painter.

The third painting to be borrowed from the Walker Art Gallery is entitled Oxen Drawing a Block of Stone to the Studio of John Warrington Wood in Rome 1872, by Enrico Coleman. This piece captures an important event in the life of Warrington School of Art pupil, John Warrington Wood, who would go on to carve the block depicted in Coleman's work into the statue of St Michael overcoming Satan. This impressive statue was the impetus for building the main art gallery in Warrington Museum in 1877, and can still be seen in the entrance of the museum today.

These three works are hugely significant to the history of Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, and staff are delighted to welcome them to where these artists first trained.

Janice Hayes, Heritage Manager at Culture Warrington - the charity that runs Warrington Museum & Art Gallery and also Pyramid & Parr Hall - said: "We are thrilled to be able to celebrate Warrington's artistic history by borrowing these exceptional pieces from the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

"These prominent artists trained within the walls of this historic building, before going on to exhibit at The Royal Academy, securing international recognition - and, in the case of Luke Fildes, even receiving the royal seal of approval.

"To be able to showcase their work right here where they trained is a real honour and it's a fantastic way to put the museum, which was once recognised as the earliest public museum in the North West, back on the cultural map.

"We would like to thank the Walker Art Gallery for allowing us to borrow these items, and also the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund for enabling this to happen."

The grant will be used to fund the costs associated with the transport of the works to and from Liverpool, in addition to supporting a range of activities linked to the exhibition and associated marketing costs. Further funding from Arts Council England has allowed the museum to improve security and the gallery environment to protect the pieces when they go on show.

These remarkable works will be available to view at Warrington Museum & Art Gallery from Saturday 5 May 2018 to Saturday 2 March 2019. The paintings will join the museum's Warrington Art Treasures exhibition, which already features many of the most celebrated works by artists such as John Warrington Wood, Luke Fildes and Henry Woods.

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