The Grundy is an art gallery located in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Its eclectic programme consists of regional historic to recent contemporary art exhibitions. Opened in 1911, it is owned and operated by Blackpool Council. It is a Grade II listed

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

building. Together with the adjoining Central library it was listed on 20 October 1983.

History

Blackpool Council commissioned the building of the Grundy Art Gallery in 1908 following a bequest of 33 artworks and a financial gift from brothers John and Cuthbert Grundy, both of whom were local artists. Cuthbert was described at the time as "A leader of the artistic, literary and scientific life of the town." Designed by Cullen, Lockhead and Brown, the gallery has coupled

Ionic columns The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite ...

supporting a stone

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

bearing a carved Blackpool Borough crest. Together with Central library the gallery opened on 26 October 1911. In 1912, a purchase fund for new artworks was set up to build upon the 33 artworks. By the late 1930s, the collection and general ambition of the gallery had outgrown the original building, and so an extension of two extra galleries was built. It opened in 1938. The Grundy now contains nearly 2,000 objects.

Facilities

The Grundy is accessible by steps and there is wheelchair access to the ground floor galleries. The Grundy shop specialises in artist-made jewellery.

Exhibitions

The Grundy organises a programme of contemporary visual art exhibitions featuring the work of established and emerging artists from the UK and abroad, as well as historically important artwork loaned from major UK institutions and objects from its own permanent collection. On 25 November 2008, American singer Mary Wilson appeared at the Grundy to launch her collection of the gowns worn by Motown female singing group

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

– ''The Story of The Supremes from the Mary Wilson Collection''.

Permanent collection

Grundy's collection, which is displayed as part of the temporary exhibitions programme and is not on permanent display, includes Victorian oils and watercolours, modern British paintings, contemporary prints, jewellery and video, oriental ivories, ceramics, as well as photographs and souvenirs of Blackpool. Works in the collection include ''Aircraftsman Shaw'' by Welsh painter

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarge ...

, ''Sanctuary Wood'' by English landscape painter Paul Nash, ''The Yellow Funnel'' by English painter

Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landsc ...

, ''The Waterway'' by English painter Lucy Kemp-Welch and ''Woods and Forests'' by English

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...

John Linnell John Sidney Linnell ( ; born June 12, 1959) is an American musician, known primarily as one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to singing and songwri ...

. Other artists whose work is represented include: Craigie Aitchison, Richard Ansdell, Thomas Sidney Cooper,

Martin Creed Martin Creed (born 21 October 1968) is a British artist, composer and performer. He won the Turner Prize in 2001 for exhibitions during the preceding year, with the jury praising his audacity for exhibiting a single installation, ''Work No. 22 ...

, Thomas Creswick, Stanhope Forbes, Laura Ford,

Gilbert and George Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art d ...

, Herbert von Herkomer, John Frederick Herring, Sr.,

Edward Atkinson Hornel Edward Atkinson Hornel (17 July 1864 – 1933) was a Scottish painter of landscapes, flowers, and foliage, with children. He was a cousin of James Hornell. His contemporaries in the Glasgow Boys called him Ned Hornel. Biography Hornel was born ...

, Harold Knight,

Laura Knight Dame Laura Knight ( Johnson; 4 August 1877 – 7 July 1970) was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressi ...

, Henry Herbert La Thangue,

Peter Liversidge Peter Liversidge (born 1973) is a British contemporary artist notable for his diverse artistic practice and use of proposals. Personal life Peter Liversidge studied Fine Art in Exeter at the University of Plymouth and film and photography at M ...

, David Roberts, Lindsay Seers, William Shayer,

Julian Trevelyan Julian Otto Trevelyan (20 February 1910 – 12 July 1988) was an English artist and poet. Early life Trevelyan was the only child to survive to adulthood of Robert Calverley Trevelyan and his wife Elizabeth van der Hoeven. His grandfather wa ...

, Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven and

Benjamin Williams Leader Benjamin Williams Leader (12 March 1831 – 22 March 1923) was an English landscape painter. Life and work Early years and training Leader was born in Worcester as Benjamin Leader Williams, the son, and third child of eleven children, of ...

Grundy art in popular culture

In 1998 Harold Knight's painting, ''A Girl Writing at a Desk'' was used as the image on the front cover of the

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

books ''

A Room of One's Own ''A Room of One's Own'' is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf, first published in September 1929. The work is based on two lectures Woolf delivered in October 1928 at Newnham College and Girton College, women's colleges at the University of C ...

'' and ''

Three Guineas ''Three Guineas'' is a book-length essay by Virginia Woolf, published in June 1938. Background Although ''Three Guineas'' is a work of non-fiction, it was initially conceived as a "novel–essay" which would tie up the loose ends left in her ...

'', published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Blackpool Tourist attractions in Blackpool Museums in Lancashire Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire Infrastructure completed in 1911 Art museums and galleries in Lancashire Art museums established in 1911 1911 establishments in England