Japanese crafts and toys

Japanese traditional crafts and toys as a reflection of Japanese history, art and spirit. Seminar by Helena Cox, Curator, art historian and Friends’ committee member. In this seminar, Helena will focus on an area of Japanese art and traditional culture which is...

Gallery talk: Stanley Spencer

A talk on Stanley Spencer by Lauren Marohn, recipient of the MA bursary part-funded by the Friends. Lauren has provided this introduction: In my talk on 12 February, I will introduce and analyze Stanley Spencer’s The Deposition and the Rolling Away of the Stone. I...

Friends’ tour of Cornwall

The Friends of York Art Gallery are offering a seven day tour of Cornwall from 21-27 September 2025. Staying in Truro, this includes visits to St. Ives, Tremenheere Sculpture Garden, Kurt Jackson and Penlee House galleries and the Minack Theatre. Stopovers at...

Gallery talk: Lely’s painting of Charlotte Fitzroy

December’s Artwork of the Month talk will be given by Susannah Lyon-Whaley. Between Beauty and Empire: Rethinking Lely’s Unidentified Child and Charlotte Fitzroy In the early 1670s, court artist Peter Lely painted King Charles II’s young and eligible...

Visit exhibition at Beningbrough Hall

Visit to the Mary Delaney Exhibition at Beningborough Hall Laura Turner, formerly curator at York Art Gallery, will give a conducted tour of a photographic exhibition showcasing the work of Mary Delaney (1700-88). Already an accomplished needlewoman and artist,...

Gallery talk: John Flaxman

A talk by Michael Smith on John Flaxman (1755-1826), the York-born sculptor whose portrait can be seen above the entrance to the Gallery. The speaker is a PHD student in the Department of History or Art, University of York and has provided this introduction: Widely...

Was van Gogh a Victorian Artist?

The National Gallery exhibition ‘Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers’ (14 September to 19 January) covers the time van Gogh spent at Arles and at the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Less well-known is the time he spent in London, and the fact that he was an avid reader of...

William Morris talk

*** Fully booked *** ‘William Morris on the Wall’ a talk by Dr Imogen Hart This talk is designed to coincide with the exhibition ‘The Art of Wallpaper: Morris & Co’ at York Art Gallery (27 September 2024 – 23 February 2025). Analysing Morris’s wallpaper and...

An Ancient Stronghold in France by Wynford Dewhurst

Artwork of the Month August 2024 An Ancient Stronghold in France by Wynford Dewhurst Caitlin Doley, Associate Collections Curator at York Art Gallery, writes about a painting by Wynford Dewhurst, ‘Manchester’s Monet’, which was included in the exhibition ‘National...

The Derbyshire Gift

Artwork of the Month July 2024 The Derbyshire Gift Peter Gibbard, former Chair of the Friends, continues his occasional accounts of women artists represented in York Art Gallery’s permanent collection. ‘The Derbyshire Gift’ pertains to five paintings by 20th century...