Where did August go? September appeared far too fast and once again I am going back and forth to York, but I have cut down my hours of child minding. York does not have a central bus station, I wish that it did, but buses arriving and departing for different destinations have a variety of stops across the city. The service that I use for Easingwold and Thirsk stops at Exhibition Square. So this month is a brief look at what I can see when waiting for my bus. If you replace the horses with buses this is more or less what I see when waiting for my bus. This picture is by Myles Birket Foster [1825 - 1899] and is in the York Art Gallery. He trained as a wood engraver but then turned to watercolours. Born in North Shields he lived most of his life in the south, painting on the Continent and around Surrey where he lived. He was a very popular Victorian artist. If you are following my blogs you will start to recognise this side of York. Exhibition Square is at the bottom of the street called Bootham and near the Museum Gardens where the Yorkshire Museum is, formerly part of the ground of St Mary's Abbey and the Manor house, now called The King's Manor. However, not that long ago the site of Exhibition Square was gardens. There had been an Exhibition in York in 1866 held in temporary buildings in the grounds of Bootham Asylum. It was thought that a second exhibition should be in a permanent building which could be used as a Fine Art School, but finding the right place proved difficult. Eventually a site previously known as Bearpark's Garden was selected. This was land held on lease from the Crown by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (who built the adjacent Yorkshire Museum), and was secured on a 999 year lease for £4,000. The first stone was laid on Easter Monday 1878 and the executive committee then set about gathering exhibits. At the same time a new square was created between St Leonards's Place and the new Exhibition Gallery, where the fountains are, and the bus stops (just out of shot!). Of course lots and lots of people came into York, and York was not slow to make money out of them. Enterprising Guest Houses advertised rooms, but accommodation was also needed for staff at the exhibition. Nothing changes, husband has spent much time in hotels and guest houses when working at shows and exhibitions. At last the grand opening on the 7th May 1879 - The opening was preceded by a Grand luncheon at the Mansion House with all the great and good attending, followed by a procession with the robed Mayor and Alderman, mace and sword bearers, to the exhibition. The Archbishop then presided with the York Musical Society singing hymns and anthems accompanied by the organ. Various local worthies loaned paintings and objects to be exhibited, e.g. a Collection by the Earl of Feversham. There was also a set of thirty views of York by J W Boddy. He originally trained in architecture but turned to watercolours and taught art in York. A catalogue was produced, fortunately now on t'internet. I was pleased to see that the artist Julius Caesar Ibbotson exhibited, because he lived in Masham. His painting was entitled "Landscape with figures" and was loaned by a Mr L Wedderburn. I was even more pleased to see this item in the catalogue as Matthew Cooper was a dalesman and Master Saddler. Matthew was born in Reeth in 1814, after serving his apprenticeship as a saddler in Leyburn he moved to York. He exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851, won prizes and made saddles for Royalty. I remember the lovely leather shop called Robson and Cooper on Lendal, where you went for special presents such as a twentyfirst birthday or such, and the lovely aroma. Sadly it is now a horrid drinking establishment called "Trembling Madness" with the most ghastly so called interior decoration. Thus was the beginning of York Art Gallery. It was bought by the City Council in 1892 and received many fine donations of paintings. But is now smaller than it was. The map on the left shows that the Art Gallery extended back from the square to a Tower. The picture from google earth show a large grassy area and the building half the size. York was bombed during the Second World War and the Art Gallery was damaged in 1942 and the large hall at the rear was demolished. There is much more to see around Exhibition Square but I will save this for another time. I will end this blog with William Etty [1787 - 1849], York's own artist. He shocked prudish Victorian society by painting (almost exclusively) nudes. This statue is by George Walker Milburn and was erected in 1910, when York must have got over its prudishness. Etty established a School of Art in York, and also campaigned to save the City Walls from being demolished. A very good reason to have a statue of him in Exhibition Square. This is one of his more modest life pictures and is called "A Bather" and is in the York Art Gallery. LOTS of his pictures are on the ArtUk website if you wish to explore further, but great expanses of bare flesh are not to my taste ! Most are Full frontal of Males and Females. You have been warned!
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AuthorThis is where you can share creativity with me. I believe that everyone has something creative within them, and it is a joy to find ways of being creative. Blogging is NEW to me, so here goes ..... Archives
January 2024
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