My Visit On 30/04/2003.

Introduction

The City of Bradford was a famous centre for the production of woollen cloth, but, of course, this industry has now largely disappeared to lower cost countries. There has been considerable investment in the City in an effort to regenerate the local economy, for instance the National Museum of Film and Photography is situated there. In the middle of this the excellent Cartwright Hall Art Gallery seems to have been forgotten, which is something of a pity. All other attractions in the city are well-signposted, but I did not see any signs for one of the best provincial galleries in England. The gallery was opened in 1904, and is situated in Lister Park, which has just had a comprehensive and most successful improvement programme. The handsome gallery building is surrounded by colourful flowerbeds, and was built as a result of the donations made by Samuel Cunliffe Lister (1815-1906), a local mill-owner, who was created Lord Masham in 1892. The gallery was constructed on the site of the former home of Lister, which was demolished to make way for it. The building is in the Baroque style, and is extremely handsome. In construction it belies its looks by being very modern for its time. It was intended to be the setting for large civic functions as well as an art gallery, and has excellent structural strength due to the use of steel beams, which are disguised by ornamental plaster. It also had, for the time a very modern heating and ventilation system. The architect was Sir John William Simpson, and the building was finally completed in 1904, and opened on Wednesday 13^th April. It is worthy of comment that there had been a large cost overrun, reminding to us today that nothing is new! Such men as Lister, the leading industrial magnates of their day, had replaced the old aristocratic families as the leading collectors of art by the second half of the 19^th century. It comes as little surprise, therefore that the extremely handsome gallery contains some interesting Victorian pictures.

Some Victorian Pictures In The Gallery

Queen Guinevere’s Maying (1897) by the Hon John Collier
This picture must be amongst the very best painted by Collier. It does exhibit some of his usual deficiencies, but the overall impression is very striking. The Queen is handsome, her dress beautiful, and the blossom is well-painted. Collier, who was for a time a pupil of Alma-Tadema is very popular, and this is one of his most admired pictures, and deservedly so.

An Egyptian Feast (1877) by Edwin Long RA
During his lifetime Long enjoyed a considerable reputation and great commercial success, and is often regarded as the artistic precursor of Lord Leighton. This vast picture is very much of the type which made his art so successful in his lifetime, and so quick to disappear after it. At the end of an Egyptian banquet, slaves are carrying round the room a dummy corpse on a bier. The motto of the painting is “Gaze here, and drink, and be merry, for when you die this you will be.” This causes a variety of reactions amongst the party-goers, ranging from total indifference amongst the young, to thoughtful reflection from two elderly people. In the left foreground a nearly-nude young woman dancer looks directly at the onlooker, inviting a reaction. Like Leighton’s large paintings those of Long are very static. When I looked back at the picture from further down the gallery, a momentary effect of the light gave it a most striking impression. The painting was presented to the gallery in 1931, when it would have been deeply unfashionable, and the maintenance of a private home capable of displaying it would have started to become prohibitive due to the depression and tax rates.

The White Naiad In A Rippling Stream (1903),by Sir Edward Poynter PRA
This picture was painted in 1903, by which time the artistic ability of the painter had suffered from the effects of age, and the pressure of administrative duties. The colours are strangely muted, as are the flesh tones of the Naiad, but she is elegant and shows some of the sensuality which the artist painted the nude so successfully in his prime.

Neaera Reading A Letter From Catullus (1894) by Henry J Hudson
This handsome picture was bought directly from the artist in 1894, and is a rather typical classical picture of that time. But Niara is attractive and well painted, and the picture is a pleasure to look at. Little seems to be known about the artist.  

The Cloister or The World (1904), by Arthur Hacker RA
Arthur Hacker usually receives severe handling from critics today, who tend to regard his work as superficial, and his undoubted facility to paint as leading to facile pictures. This is, I think, a major injustice. This large painting is, though, extremely colourful, decorative, and executed with great skill. A young novice nun is agonising, as indicated in the title of the picture, with the competing attractions being pressed by an anxious, though beautiful angel, and an opulently coloured and dressed temptress.

Habet In The Coliseum (1865) by Simeon Solomon
This interesting and original painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1865, ten years before the unfortunate Solomon’s fall from grace. It depicts a group of women watching a gladiatorial contest. The point has been reached where one of the unfortunates has been injured, and the women are showing a range of expressions ranging from malice (the thumbs down gesture), repulsion, excitement and indifference. On its first showing this picture was very successful, creating something of a sensation.

Dawn, by Sir Frank Dicksee PRA
Bought from the artist in 1901. A highly untypical allegorical painting by the artist. The two figures represent day and night, or youth and age. The painted is applied thickly, and the surface is rough whole picture is powerfully atmospheric, and very different from the polished pictures we expect from Dicksee.

The Mother by Sir Frank Dicksee
I was not able to establish a precise date for this picture, but it certainly dates from late in the artist’s career, and was presented to the gallery by the executors of Miss Margaret Dicksee. The date of the presentation, variously given as 1934 and 1939, makes it unlikely that the picture came from the estate of Margaret Dicksee (1858-1903), the painter sister of the artist, and I assume a niece would be the likely answer. Any reasonable observer looking at this work would understand the enduring appeal of this great artist. A young woman, who has received bad news in a letter is held in the comforting arms of her handsome mother.  The face of the daughter is flushed and tearful, and her white dress contrasts with the black gown of her mother. The whole is just marvellously done, in the soft focus so typical of Dicksee. I returned to it on a number of occasions during my visit.

Mrs Ernest Hills (1905) by John Singer Sargent
An excellent Sargent portrait, was there ever a bad one? The limited colour of the sitter’s clothing (black and white), is very effective. The sympathetic character of the sitter is also evident.

Ford Madox Brown The First Translation of The Bible into English 1847-8 re-worked 1859-61
This early picture by Brown is heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, and their romanticised view of the Middle Ages. Wycliffe is reading his translation of the New Testament to John of Gaunt, in the presence of, amongst others Chaucer! The picture uses the bright colours and naïve perspective of the Brotherhood.

Fiamella/Fiametta (1883) by Atkinson Grimshaw
Early in his career Grimshaw was very much influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. Later he developed into a painter of nocturnal pictures of street scenes, coastal scenes, and docksides. He also specialised in autumnal twilight pictures with warm glowing colours. In the early 1880s the Leeds-based painter spent some time in London. It is said that he met a number of other leading artists of the time including Whistler, and was exposed to the influence of other distinguished painters. This particular picture shows an awareness of the work of Alma-Tadema, and is an interesting and highly unusual part of Grimshaw’s output, and illustrates, were any further evidence needed, what an accomplished painter he was.

Outside the scope of this article there are 18^th century paintings by:
Gainsborough, Reynolds, Bassett, Romney.  
   
Late 19^th/early 20^th century pictures by:  
Clausen, H H La Thangue, Philip Wison Steer.

There are also 20^th century pictures by:  
Lowry, Stanley Spencer, David Hockney.

The Cartwright also has a good collection of sculpture, much of it dating from the opening of the gallery almost a century ago. Amongst the sculptors whose work is represented are : Sir Alfred Gilbert, Carl Muller, Henry Fehr.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed, and was impressed by the Cartwright on my first visit. The gallery, its collections, and its handsome and impressive interior I found even more interesting on this visit. I regard the Cartwright as a national treasure, and sadly at the moment something of a well-kept secret. I would strongly recommend that Victorian art enthusiasts take the trouble to make a visit. It is well-worth the effort.