Art in Liverpool

Hello reader,

Last week I went "up north" to visit my boyfriend in Sheffield... and of course take in as much art as possible! We have wanted to visit Liverpool for a while, as it's not too difficult to get to from Sheffield, and so finally we took the plunge. Being a Londoner, and therefore, I admit, very London-centric I was surprised by just how much art there was to see, so I thought I would share my findings, as it really isn't that grim up north, and plus, they've got some REALLY great art and architecture! 

 I've wanted to visit Liverpool since learning about its town hall whilst studying eighteenth-century British architecture. St George's Hall is a monumental masterpiece of classical architecture, incorporating two law courts, an assembly hall and a concert hall, all in one building- it's HUGE and it's a massive statement of civic pride; it's Latin inscription ARTIBUS LEGIBUS CONSILIS translates as for arts, law and counsel describing the ways in which it served the City. It was designed by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes in 1839-40 and, although he had not by travelled abroad to see the architecture of Greece and Rome for himself, may have been inspired by illustrations of the Classical designs of Schinkel in Germany, particularly the Altes Museum. 

St George's Hall, Liverpool
Yes, that's me in the yellow jumper. In front of Frank Salmon's door!
Image: Tom Furnival

But St George's Hall doesn’t just have a really amazing classical exterior [and boy, do I love columns]. Oh no. It has a frankly ASTOUNDING mosaic floor made up of Minton tiles. This is usually hidden under floor boards to preserve it, however, for the month of August it is uncovered for public viewing- YAY! So, we decided this was too much of a good opportunity to miss. Only £2.50 to see a crazy, huge, colourful mosaic that’s been hidden since 1886 and only uncovered in recent years – I call that a BARGAIN! Luckily for me, my boyfriend Tom has a super-duper camera and took lots of high-res photos for me. I thought it would be rude not to share...

The interior of St George's Hall, Liverpool
Image: Tom Furnival

Minton tiled floor, St George's Hall
Image: Tom Furnival

St George's Hall isn't the only MASSIVE building in Liverpool. We also took a trip to Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral [NOT the Catholic one that looks like a cone with a big spiky crown- very cool]. I wasn't hugely keen on the architecture- it's big and... well... bricky- but I'm a sucker for views and stained glass window, so off we went up the hill [being a southerner, it felt like a hill to me] and up 2 lifts to the top of the tower. Thank goodness for those lifts. The tower is 331ft (101m) tall, but thanks to this, and it's location on a hill, the views are AMAZING. The Cathedral is also home to a collection of artworks including sculpture by Elizabeth Frink and a painting by Christopher Le Brun. However, my favourite was a neon by Tracey Emin called For You (2008), placed prominently under the vast stained glass over the west doors. It reads

I Felt you And I Know You Loved me

Liverpool is home to a wealth of Museums and galleries, so many that it was impossible to see them all in the space of a day. Not knowing much about him or his work, I really wanted to see the Chagall exhibition, so we went to the Tate Liverpool to have a look. Going near the end of the day, we didn't manage to see the rest of the gallery, but I was interested to see how the space worked, having been converted from an old warehouse in the Albert Dock to a space for exhibiting art- two very different functions. Personally, I wasn't sure. I felt that the exhibition space had a strange layout that wasn't easy to navigate- it was hard to know in which order the paintings were intended to be viewed. This wasn't helped by small wall text that was hard to read, and often didn't really help provide links between the chosen works. The paintings themselves were wonderful- colourful and dreamlike, and full of love for those that mattered to him, his people and his family members. One of my favourites was his work Lovers in Blue (1914). In fact, I loved it so much, I bought a print for my wall:

Marc Chagall, Lovers in Blue (1914)

I hate to be gushy and soppy [no, I really do, honestly!] but I think this is very romantic without being over-the-top and sentimental. It's intimate, but not so much that you feel like you're intruding. The palette is so strongly blue, yet it's not sad. It's sweet, but not saccharine. It captures a brief, happy moment between two people, and it makes me happy just to look at it. What do you think?

Now, last but not least, I give you The Walker Art Gallery. How we nearly managed to missed this, I do not know [yes, I am one of those people who plans itineraries], but thank GOODNESS we didn't. Free entry- check, massive collection of painting AND sculpture from the 13th century to contemporary art- check, a hefty selection of pre-raphaelite paintings- check... AND you can take photos! Amazing. It's as if it was made for me! I mean, just look at this, look how happy I am:

Helen of Troy by Frederick Sandys (1866)
Ginger twins?

Well.... I was happy. Anyway, my point is, I highly recommend the gallery. 

So if you can go, DO! 

Whilst in Sheffield I also went to the Yorkshire Sculpture park, but I think this post has gone on long enough already. Tom took some pretty good pictures whilst we were there, if you'd like to see them you can find them here.

I'm off to Cornwall tomorrow and am hoping to make it to St Ives to check out the Tate there [to "complete the cycle" as such] and to also see some Barbara Hepworth. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to say about it when I get back. Until then...

Thanks for reading!

Jennifer