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The Lakes Top Ten AttractionsAbbot Hall Art Gallery, KendalThe gallery is a welcoming cultural hub located in a Grade I listed Georgian building on the banks of the River Kent in the historic town of Kendal, Cumbria. The nationally significant art collection is one of the largest of its kind in the North. Spanning historic to contemporary art, over 50% of the collection is focused on landscape. The collection includes over 3,000 works on paper with watercolours by Turner and Ruskin and contemporary works by Charmaine Watkiss, Andy Goldsworthy and Emma Stibbon. There is a strong Modern British collection including works by Lucian Freud, Bridget Riley, Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, Paula Rego and the work of European Modernist Kurt Schwitters, created during his final years in Cumbria. Abbot Hall is part of Lakeland Arts. Inside the gallery you’ll experience What is it That Will Last? (20 May to 30 Dec 2023). Running across both floors of Abbot Hall this exhibition offers a rare insight into an extensive body of work made in remote locations in Scotland, Japan and Cumbria. Incorporating sound, photography and drawing, the exhibition presents the artist's immersive relationship with the landscape. Information about Abbot Hall, its exhibitions, collections and events will be available via the Bloomberg Connects app from 20 May. https://www.bloombergconnects.org/
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. 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 |
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