National Museums Liverpool Blog - Wednesday, March 29, 2006

The Jodi Awards 'recognise museum, gallery, library,archive or heritage websites that demonstrate commitment to meeting web accessibility standards'. Nominated sites are assessed by an experienced panel of judges, supported by formal testing by disability experts and disabled users.

The 2006 shortlist has been announced:

• Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
• Portable Antiquities Scheme
  
• i-Map: The Everyday Transformed
  
• Their Reading Futures
  
• The History of Wolverhampton
  
• Speaking Volumes

National Museums Liverpool's web accessibility guidelines.

Sping has sprung, or so we're told. All the signs of a typical British springtime are here. This week we've already had wind, rain and a dash of hail. I even had a spring roll for my tea last night, so it must be true. (I'm not joking. I really did have a spring roll).

One of my friends has just mentioned she is going to dust off the BBQ, but I'm afraid I can't share her optimism. To try and shake off that bleak winter outlook, I've been browsing our collections and came across Millais' 'Spring (Apple Blossoms)' and Laura Knight's 'Spring in St John's Wood'.  Maybe I will to wait for this week's solar eclipse to pass before I can restore my naturally sunny outlook.

If you are as confused as me about the seasons, try 'Sundials and Sunbeams' . It will explain what's happening a lot better than I can!

Tomorrow sees the 203rd Merseyside derby. To get you in the mood (as if anyone needs the help) you might want to check out the photos from two exhibitions we ran a couple of years ago - Everton's 80s Heroes and The Kop's Last Stand. Both are full of fab photos and memories of yesteryear.

Never has Mother's Day been so complicated. I am a mummy myself, but instead of looking forward to a weekend of relaxation, I am busy trying to work out how we are going to mark the occasion for no less than 4 generations of women in the family. There's me, my mum, mother-in-law, step-mother (in-law), and three grandmothers. So potentially my daughter could send cards to her mummy, nanna, grandma, step-nanny, great-grandma, great-nanna and great-grandmother. That's 13 cards in all - or about £25. So we'll be getting the glue, glitter and paints out this weekend I expect!

Of course, if I could get my 94 year old nan online we could send her one of our fabulous FREE Mother's Day e-cards.  Better still, I could even bring her along to one of our museums and galleries for the day. Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight is likely to be a favourite this weekend with Pre-Raphaelite Drawings still on show and the ever-popular cafe. But if you're looking for something really different, why not visit the Treasure House Theatre at World Museum Liverpool? The Death on the Nile performance  features the magical techniques of mummification!

(Performance starts 3pm, limited tickets from the info desk).

The Last Muster

Last night Chelsea made it through to the semis of the FA Cup, so here's a painting of Chelsea pensioners to mark the occassion - 'The Last Muster: Sunday at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea' by Sir Hubert von Herkomer which hangs in the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

Sorry barcodes fans - couldn't find anything Newcastle-related.

It's always frustrating when work never sees the light of day. We're creating a children's interactive for Big Art which involves placing the Little Artist characters into paintings from the Walker collection. We've had a lot of fun with it, but had to cut some of the images out to keep the numbers down.

Henry didn't make the cut.

We are continually adding new and improved scans of our paintings to the website. This morning I added 9 larger images of paintings to the collections pages. The enlarged images can be seen at:

'Dutch Merchant Ships in a Storm', Ludolf Bakhuizen (previously black and white)
'The Magdelan', Paulus Bor
'Mirage', Michael Raedecker
'The Nymph of the Fountain', Lucas Cranach the Elder
'Vespers', John Singer Sargent
'Ulysses shooting through the rings', Francesco Primaticcio
'Well's Cathedral', JMW Turner
'Virgin and Child in Glory', Bartolome Esteban Murillo
'Pieta', Ercole de' Roberti

Congratulations to Andrew Flintoff and the England cricket team for their 212 run victory over India this morning, the cricket match pictured is a detail from Turner's 'Well's Cathedral', circa 1795, in the Walker Art Gallery.

The fifth Beatle, the James Dean of Hamburg or just a young and talented artist? Stuart Sutcliffe's life was tragically cut short at the age of 22 when he died of a brain haemorrhage, leaving many unanswered questions.

Would he have gone on to be one of the nation's leading abstract impressionist painters? Or would his creative talents have been eclipsed by his close association with John Lennon and the advent of Beatlemania? Stuart's tutor Sir Eduardo Paolozzi called him "gifted and intelligent", although his progress in college was affected by his poor health.

Stu's ID Card. Copyright Astrid Kirchherr / K&K

Whatever the answer, interest in Stu's work and life endures. His sister Pauline has recently launched a website StuartSutcliffeArt.com where you can buy original works and memorabilia. But fear not if you can't afford the price tag - there's a fine example of Stuart's painting in the Walker Art Gallery which you can see for free!

Coincidentally, Stu isn't the only Beatle bass player to have had his paintings on show at the Walker. Some bloke called Paul McCartney has too, apparently.

It pays to always have a camera with you when you visit one of our venues. I was at the Walker Art Gallery this afternoon to see the new entrance but ended up bumping into Betty, a Royal Python, with her handler from the North Wales Raptor and Reptile Sanctuary.

They were part of a hands-on demonstration for National Science Week. The sanctuary is a respite centre for sick and injured birds of prey and reptiles, both wild and captive bred. Betty was brought into the sanctuary on Christmas Eve and is around 8 years old. Royal Pythons are becoming a popular pet, despite a potential lifespan in captivity of up to 40 years.

The website features a 'rogues gallery' of sanctuary residents (some of whom are up for adoption), Everton fans should look out for 'Sheedy' the tortoise.

Betty can be seen here in front of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's 'Dante's Dream'.

The new children's gallery at the Walker, 'Big Art for Little Artists' is looking fab, ready for its launch on 31st March. We're making some final tweaks on some really good web stuff to tie in - games, ABCs, that type of thing - so it should all be wonderful.

If you get a chance to visit mail us and let us know what you think.