Laing Art Gallery

The Laing Art Gallery is a gallery in Newcastle -upon- Tyne.

History

Despite fairly active art scene there was in Newcastle until the late 19th century, not an art gallery. 1900 offered Alexander Laing, a wealthy wine merchant from Newcastle, the city on a donation of ( estimated ) 20,000 pounds to build a gallery. It was designed by the local architect Cackett and Burns Dick. A place for a possible gallery had been chosen before the donation, and so the city council accepted the donation, despite dissenting votes because of the unfavorable traffic conditions of the place. Until the opening in 1904, the building was to cost 30,000 pounds.

There was not, as is often the case, private patrons who donated works of art for the gallery from their collections. Therefore, had the first curator, C. Bernard Stevenson, ask for individual loans and donations. For the opening exhibition, he was able to get as 400 objects.

In 1996, a wing was added, by the adjacent gallery to a major road and thus is better visible and accessible from the city center. In 2004, the gallery building was renovated. Until now had the Laing Art Gallery five Curators: C. Bernard Stevenson, whose son Collingwood Stevenson, John Millard, Andrew and Greg, since May 2001, Julie Milne.

Presence

The Laing Art Gallery has a collection of mainly British paintings from the 18th century to the present, with an emphasis on local artists. The collection includes a total of approximately 1000 paintings, watercolors 4000, 5000 prints, 100 sculptures and 7,000 crafts objects. The most important artists represented are John Martin, Holman Hunt, Edward Coley Burne -Jones, Paul Gauguin, Stanley Spencer, Joshua Reynolds and Laura Knight.

Upstairs the gallery there are four rooms that are used for special exhibitions and exhibitions from its collection. In the lunettes of these rooms are paintings of local artist, depicting scenes from the history of the city to see.

The ground floor of the permanent exhibition "Art on Tyneside " ( Art on the banks of the Tyne ), and a café. There is also a mainly geared towards children learning center on the Arts, the "All About Art Room ". The " Marble Hall ," the former entrance hall of the gallery, hosts an exhibition of sculptures, including a bust of Alexander Laing.

The new wing is the entrance area and the reception, about a room for lectures, conferences, etc., and upstairs a further exhibition space.

The Gallery is managed by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museum and supported by the UK Ministry of Culture. Admission is free. Since 1965 there is also a sponsoring called " Friends of the Laing Art Gallery " ( FLAG), collects the money for exhibitions, catalogs, and would buy more art.

Source

• A Short History of the Laing Art Gallery. Edited by The Friends of the Laing Art Gallery. 2002, 3rd edition 2007.