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Art Galleries

I enjoy art galleries.  It’s not just the collections and how they are curated I find interesting but they are often sited in interesting buildings which can add to the enjoyment of the visit.  I will always try and find the most interesting gallery when I visit a new town and I have been privileged to be able to visit lots of prestigeous places around the world but recently I stuck to nearer home.  A couple of weeks ago I went to the Leeds Art Gallery.  This has been a favourite haunt of mine for a long time and in spite of it having various visiting exhibitions I continue to be drawn to my old favourite the Atkinson Grimshaws.  I love the evident influence of the pre-Raphaelite painters but they don’t look quite so ethereal.  as a Victorian painting, Autumn Glory - The Old Mill is still one of the best paintings in the gallery





I used to really like one of his more otherworldly paintings 'Iris', a fairy like creature with wonderfully painted iridescent wings but I think it must have been on loan to the gallery as I haven’t seen it for a long time.  Leeds art Gallery has a good selection of art to explore from Victorian portraits to modern Abstracts.  The Leeds art collection is housed in a beautiful Victorian, highly decorated space. The cafe and the Library are stunningly decorated with amazing Victorian tiles.  The gallery has a rather soulless addition built on, the Henry Moore Institute which houses some wonderful sculpture including pieces from Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
This time in the gallery there was textile artist exhibiting some wonderful pieces.  Caroline Achaintre has a number of large woven art works displayed, full of colour and texture.  A very modern juxtaposition to the beautiful Victorian gallery surroundings.




Today I went to the Baltic in Newcastle.  This gallery never ceases to amaze me.. my mum used to say 'different strokes for different folks' and I think its good we all have different tastes but I have never found anything in the Baltic to wow me ever.. Except of course the actual building...I keep going, ever hopeful that the space may be used more to my taste but the only thing that consistently appeals to me is the magnificent view from the viewing pod and the never ending stairs.  Today was no different - the exhibits on show, selected works by B. Wurtz, and 'Bill Murray: a story of distance, size and sincerity' by Brian Griffiths left me cold.  The installation -' Alice Theobald and Atomik Architecture' was marginally more interesting.  I think it’s a real shame that such wonderful space goes to (in my opinion only) waste.  The cafe is quite nice though....



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