The Ferens Art Gallery is an art gallery in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

city of

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...

. The site and money for the gallery were donated to the city by

Thomas Ferens Thomas Robinson Ferens (4 May 1847 – 9 May 1930) was a British Liberal politician, a philanthropist, and an industrialist. He was the Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East for 13 years, and served the city as a Justice of the Pea ...

, after whom it is named. The architects were S. N. Cooke and E. C. Davies. Opened in 1927, it was restored and extended in 1991. The gallery features an extensive array of both permanent collections and roving exhibitions. Among the exhibits is a portrait of an unknown woman by Frans Hals. The building also houses a children's gallery and a popular cafe. The building is now a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. In 2009, an exhibition and live performance took place at the venue, to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of

The New Adelphi Club The New Adelphi Club is a popular local venue for alternative live music in the city of Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has achieved notability outside its local area, having hosted such bands as The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Green ...

, a live music venue less than north. In 2013, the gallery acquired a fourteenth-century painting by

Pietro Lorenzetti Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their artistry and experiments with three-dimen ...

, depicting Christ Between Saints Paul and Peter. The acquisition was jointly funded by the Ferens Endowment Fund, the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and Art Fund. In May 2015, it was announced that the gallery would get a £4.5 million makeover to enable it to host the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

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as part of the

UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...

programme. The gallery reopened on 13 January 2017. On 8 February 2017,

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

and

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the ac ...

visited the gallery to view the completed refurbishment. In January 2018, Hull City Council announced that a record 519,000 visits were made to the gallery during 2017.

Art in the Ferens Art Gallery (selected)

File:Frans Hals 114 WGA version.jpg, Frans Hals, ''Portrait of a Woman'' (between 1655 and 1660) File:1869 Frederic Leighton - Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon.jpg,

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...

, ''Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon'' 1869 File:The Return From Inkerman by Elizabeth Thompson.jpg,

Elizabeth Thompson Elizabeth Southerden Thompson (3 November 1846 – 2 October 1933), later known as Lady Butler, was a British painter who specialised in painting scenes from British military campaigns and battles, including the Crimean War and the Napoleonic ...

: The Return From Inkerman : oil painting (1877) File:A Summer Shower, by Charles Edward Perugini.jpg, Charles Edward Perugini, ''A Summer Shower'' File:Draper Herbert James Ulysses and the Sirens.jpg,

Herbert James Draper Herbert James Draper ( (baptism record) – ) was an English Classicist painter whose career began in the Victorian era and extended through the first two decades of the 20th century. Life Born in London, the son of a fruit merchant named Joh ...

, '' Ulysses and the Sirens'' File:Edward Stott Good Samaritan (1910) 81.6 x 106 cm, Ferrens Art Gallery, Hull.jpg,

Edward Stott Edward Stott (24 April 1855 – 19 March 1918) was an English painter of the late Victorian to early twentieth century period. He trained in Paris under Carolus Duran and was strongly influenced by the Rustic Naturalism of Bastien-Lepage and ...

: ''Good Samaritan'' (1910) File:Alice Maud Fanner - Summer at Hampton Court.jpg, Alice Maud Fanner, Summer at Hampton Court, Oil on canvas (1898) File:A Still Morning (37859067144).jpg,

John Lavery Sir John Lavery (20 March 1856 – 10 January 1941) was a Northern Irish painter best known for his portraits and wartime depictions. Life and career John Lavery was born in inner North Belfast, baptised at St Patrick's Church, Belfast an ...

; ''A Still Morning'' (1917) File:Philpot, Glyn Warren; An Artist and His Family (The Rice Family); Ferens Art Gallery.jpg,

Glyn Philpot Glyn Warren Philpot (5 October 188416 December 1937) was a British painter and sculptor, best known for his portraits of contemporary figures such as Siegfried Sassoon and Vladimir Rosing. Early life Philpot was born in Clapham, London, but ...

: An Artist and The Rice Family (1920)

References

External links

Ferens Art Gallery
* Museums in Kingston upon Hull Art museums and galleries in the East Riding of Yorkshire Art museums established in 1927 Grade II listed buildings in the East Riding of Yorkshire 1927 establishments in England {{UK-art-display-stub