|
The Lakes Top Ten AttractionsAbbot Hall Art Gallery, KendalHoused in a Georgian villa on the banks of the river Kent in the market town of Kendal, the galleries offer two floors of light-filled spaces in which to see art. The intimate rooms and tranquil setting are used to show British painting and sculpture, without pretention or overload, to uplift the spirits in an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere.As well as the fine permanent collection, Abbot Hall is widely acknowledged as having one of the most important and independently minded exhibition programmes outside London. “Given its location, it would have been easy for such a gallery to have rested on its laurels, simply showcasing historic works with links to the area. But what has put Abbot Hall on the map has been its bullish policy of showing and collecting modern British art.” Sue Hubbard, The Independent, July 2007.
Here are some examples of what you can see in the Gallery: The 18th Century George Romney (1734-1802) served his apprenticeship in Kendal and went on to be one of the most sought after portrait painters in England. Abbot Hall has the most important collection of his work in the country. Alongside works by several of his important contemporaries, Romney's paintings can be seen hung in the elegant historical settings for which they were painted, with fine 18th century furniture, and original Georgian colours decorating the walls. Modern & Contemporary The English Watercolours Watercolours are a quintessential British phenomenon and yet are rarely to be found on display in public galleries. Abbot Hall has a superb collection from which it draws different groups in rotation throughout the year. The watercolours are shown in a small gallery reminiscent of a collector's private room, where a Turner can be seen next to a Ruskin and a Constable oil sketch sits in a cabinet next to works by such figures as Cotman, Cozens and Edward Lear. Changing displays from Abbot Hall's modern and contemporary collection are shown in the elegant galleries formed from the original Georgian rooms on the first floor. Key works are also used within some of the temporary exhibitions, to draw in major paintings and sculpture from collections throughout Britain and abroad. Abbot Hall has been one of the most active galleries collecting British art in recent years and important works have been acquired, ranging from a Turner watercolour of Windermere to portraits by Stanley Spencer and Lucian Freud, and abstract paintings by Bridget Riley and Sean Scully. Through its wide contacts with collectors, Abbot Hall has also secured some spectacular long term loans, including the largest collection of Lucian Freud etchings to be found in a public gallery. Abbot Hall Art Gallery 2011 Exhibitions: Drawn from Life 15 January - 26 March 2011 One of the largest international exhibitions that Abbot Hall has hosted to date, bringing together works by over 40 artists from a wide geographical spectrum - South Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Europe and the US - juxtaposing work by international contemporary artists with Abbot Hall's collection of 18th - 20th century British art. This vast geographical scope and wide historical spectrum opens up a dialogue between different locales and eras, using art as a portal to explore questions of identity and history. The exhibition uses four themes - the landscape, the everyday, the diary and the body politic - to interpret drawing in the broadest sense. This innovative show encompasses both the temporary exhibition spaces and the permanent galleries, including new site-specific commissions. Sheila Fell 8 April - 25 June 2011 Born 1931, in Aspatria, a small mining town in Cumberland, Fell studied at Carlisle School of Art, later attending St. Martin's School of Art, London, where she studied under Roland Vivian Pitchforth and John Napper. Fell settled in London but the dramatic landscape of the Cumberland region remained the focus of her artistic vision. Again and again she returned to capture this arresting landscape, its ever-changing seasons and the people who harvested and farmed the land. Fell was elected as one of the youngest ever Royal Academicians. Tragically, Fell died at the age of 48 after an accident at home in London. The exhibition includes works from private and public collections, focusing on Fell's landscape and coastal paintings and including some of her lesser-known works and portraits of her family and friends. Display - Shattered Landscapes: Sutherland, Piper and Neo-Romanticism in Post-War Britain 8 April - 25 June 2011 The artists loosely labelled as Neo-Romantics created works of brooding intensity, forging a reconnection with the British landscape in the shadow of the Second World War. As well as featuring works by two of the most celebrated Neo-Romantic artists, John Piper and Graham Sutherland, this display will also include paintings and watercolours by Alan Reynolds, Michael Ayrton and Ivon Hitchens, whose visionary landscapes have rarely been shown at Abbot Hall. R.B. Kitaj: Portraits and Reflections 9 July - 8 October 2011 This summer Abbot Hall Art Gallery is curating the first major UK exhibition of the American artist R.B. Kitaj (1932-2007), following the Tate's controversial retrospective in 1994. Offering an opportunity for a fresh reappraisal of his artistic achievements the exhibition will feature approximately fifty paintings and works on paper, which have been selected from the point of view of Kitaj's own concept of painting as portraiture in its broadest sense. Including many self portraits and portraits of some of the leading thinkers, poets and artists of the nineteenth and twentieth century such as Isaiah Berlin, Robert Creeley and David Hockney. Artist Rooms: Richard Long 21 October - 17 December 2011 The riverside setting of Abbot Hall Art Gallery which forms part of the Lakeland Arts Trust, will make a fitting backdrop to this exhibition of work by seminal British artist Richard Long. Since the late 1960s Long has made work in the landscape. His practice of making walks in the natural world led him to be one of the most prominent and pioneering artists of his generation, extending art beyond the boundaries of the gallery. The artist records his walks, and the discreet sculptures he makes in the landscape through photography, maps and text pieces that together explore the geometry of the environment. He has also used organic materials such as slate, flint or sticks to make floor-based sculptures and frequently integrates mud into drawings and wall-works. Long presented an exhibition at Abbot Hall in 1985. Twenty-six years later, this exhibition will offer visitors the possibility to explore the artist's practice across his extensive career. Abbot Hall Art Gallery - More information 2011 Opening Times Admission Gift Aid Weekly Gallery Talks Group Visits Parking Access Contact Abbot Hall Art Gallery Abbot Hall Coffee Shop An appetising menu of locally produced food is freshly prepared daily, and a selection of wines and beers are available with meals. You can view changing selling exhibitions of artists' prints with a cup of fresh coffee or speciality tea. In summer you can eat outside the Coffee Shop and enjoy the view of Kendal Castle. The Gallery Book Shop Browse through the range of specialist art books in the Book Shop, which also stocks exhibition catalogues, postcards and fine art greetings cards. Picnics There are picnic facilities in the adjacent park, as well as swings and slides for children. Room Closures Certain rooms may need to be closed when changing exhibitions. Please ring in advance if you are wishing to see a particular exhibit. How to Get There Follow signs to south Kendal and then for Abbot Hall. A 10 minute drive from j36 of the M6. Nearest train station: Oxenholme, the Lake District. Sat Nav LA9 5AL |
 |
|||||||||
|
|
