Artwork of the Month talks are held regularly at the Gallery and speakers are encouraged to submit articles or notes based on their talks for publication here. Most of the talks listed below, however, were produced in the days of the Covid pandemic when in-person talks were not possible.
The Birdcage by Barbara SM Smith
Artwork of the Month April 2022 Peter Gibbard, formerly Chair of the Friends, writes about a little-known woman artist, an example of whose work is included in the exhibition Beyond Bloomsbury: Life, Love & Legacy held in York Art Gallery in 2022. The Life...
The Groves Quartet
Artwork of the Month for September 2021 has been chosen by Peter Gibbard, former Chair of the Friends. The painting, dated 1854, is by a little-known artist, Ann Beaumont, the earliest woman artist to feature in the Gallery's collection. The painting depicts the...
H.19 (Canticle) by John Golding
Artwork of the Month for August 2121 is a 20th-century abstract painting from York Art Gallery's collection. Intriguingly titled H. 19 (Canticle), the work is by the artist John Golding (1929-2012), who was also an art historian, curator, and educator. Professor...
The Lamp by Amy B Atkinson
Peter Gibbard, former Chair of the Friends of York Art Gallery, has chosen an evocative study of the use of light as his Artwork of the Month. 'The Lamp' is an oil painting by a little-known woman artist, Amy Beatrice Atkinson (1859-1816), who led an interesting life...
‘Refreshing the Weary’ by Robert Hannah
Artwork of the Month for July 2021 is Refreshing the Weary by Robert Hannah (1812-1909). Richard Green, Curator of York Art Gallery from 1977 to 2003, explores the fascinating details of one of the collection’s finest Victorian paintings of a modern-life subject and...
Portrait by Parmigianino
The Portrait of a Young Man with a Book by Parmigianino is our Artwork of the Month for May 2021. The painting is a treasure of the Gallery's collection and a significant example of the work of this great artist. It is also a personal favourite of Anne Hall, a...
Portrait of Charlotte Fitzroy
Artwork of the Month for April 2021 is one of the highlights of the Gallery collection, the portrait, by Sir Peter Lely, of Charlotte Fitzroy, the illegitimate daughter of King Charles II. The child is shown accompanied by an unidentified page boy. The painting was...
Stafford Pottery Plaque
Artwork of the Month for March 2021 is an earthenware plaque which is on display in the Wall of Pots at York Art Gallery. Sammi Scott, a PHD student at the University of York, explores how this unassuming tile relates to a complex history of copies, forgeries,...
Wentworth Woodhouse Centaurs
Peter Brown, formerly Director of Fairfax House, York, writes about two beautiful sculptures in the Gallery's collection, the Wentworth Woodhouse Centaurs. Almost certainly the work of Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, they were acquired by the Marquis of Rockingham in 1761 and...
Gulliver and the Houyhnhnms
This month's chosen artwork is 'Gulliver reprimanded and silenced by his master when describing the horrors of war' by Sawrey Gilpin (1733-1807) The Friends’ Secretary Benjamin Hilliam, describes how the artist's interest in animal welfare and anthropomorphism is...