National Museums Liverpool Blog - Thursday, September 21, 2006

Carrying on the Museum of Liverpool subject, part of the new museum will look at the figures who have helped shape Liverpool. One of the people who will probably feature is Josephine Butler who, in case you don't know, was a social reformer and political campaigner who worked against slavery and child prostitution, for women’s rights and for higher education for women. 

The Women's Library in London has just opened an exhibition on prostitution which features Jospheine Butler, and this Guardian article tells you more about this remarkable and relatively unsung woman.

Lion railway locomotive

A new feature on the Museum of Liverpool website is the Land transport collection top ten, with a variety of vehicles from across the ages. Most of this popular collection is currently either in storage or on loan to other museums. However, it is hoped that we will be able to put some on display in the new Museum of Liverpool when that opens in 2010.

In the meantime you can see the AER motorcycle in the Reveal display at the National Conservation Centre (look up when you go in) and the famous Lion railway locomotive at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

If you look really closely you can see 'King of the world' Leo and Kate (just kidding)

It's all go at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. The Floating Palaces gallery, which looks at the golden age of travel on liners including poignant reminders of the Titanic and Lusitania disasters, is due to close soon and be replaced by a much bigger better gallery on the first floor of the museum.

The new gallery will explore the story of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland as well as the Titanic and Lusitania, highlighting new research and Liverpool connections. New material on display will include recent acquisitions such as a medal awarded to Able Seaman Leslie Morton, who rescued many of the survivors from the Lusitania. These will be shown alongside existing highlights from the collection, such as the huge model of the Olympic/Titanic.

In order for the changes to take place the Floating Palaces gallery will close on 1 October 2006, so you've got just over a week to go if you want to have a last look around. The new gallery is expected to open later in the year, we'll keep you posted when the date is confirmed.

Sunday's Observer included a feature on 'The best-kept arts secrets in Britain'.

DJ Rob Da Bank nominated 'Another Place' ('amazing to look at and you don't pay to get in'), whilst 'the second most intelligent man in Britain', Stephen Bayley, chose the Walker Art Gallery's 'Christ Discovered in the Temple' by Simone Martini.

'Not exactly a secret, but certainly a surprise, is Simone Martini's Christ Discovered in the Temple in Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery. I knew this exquisite little picture as a child, long before I ever visited Siena. Martini was one of that magnificent city's greatest painters, working at the fascinating moment when Gothic simplicity became Renaissance sophistication. There's the effulgence of tooled gold, the lapis, the vermilion, but there's also subtle psychology: a superb object and a brilliant image.

Marvellous how this gorgeous southern picture found its way, through proud merchants and shippers, to the gloom of 19th-century Merseyside. It hangs now in Lancashire as a strange and haunting refugee from faraway Tuscany, a sudden jolt of Renaissance beauty enjoyed to the distant noise of buses.'

A moment of peace in a hectic weekend

I feel I should apologise for the lack of new blog entries over the last couple of days. This is partly because, after weeks of feverish activity preparing for the Biennial opening weekend, we've now been unchained from our keyboards and allowed out to enjoy the Biennial in all its glory.

And what a weekend it has been. I've walked around so much I'm sure my legs must be at least an inch shorter and I've still only scratched the surface of what's on offer. Over the last few days I've heard Tracey Emin go meow (have a listen on the podcast of the John Moores 24 opening speeches), stroked the paw of a caged lion and seen more art than I could shake a very large stick at. 

I spent Friday afternoon exploring the Greenland Street galleries, including the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2006 in the Coach Shed. If you go there on a sunny day then head up to the roof of the adjacent Blade Factory building, the light shining through the enclosure there is stunning, these photos really don't do it justice. Then after being dazzled by the light I found a very dark room downstairs with rather beautiful 'silent music'. I could have stayed there all day quite happily.

Martin Greenland is the first prizewinner for John Moores 24 with his painting 'Before Vermeer's Clouds'. A full online catalogue is available, showing all 52 paintings with artists' statements and biographies.

The exhibition opens to the public this Saturday, 16 September 2006, at the Walker Art Gallery, running until the end of the Biennial, 26 November 2006.

The other prizewinners announced are Matthew Burrows ('Baptism'), Graham Crowley ('Red Reflection'), Vincent Hawkins ('After Paul Nash'), James White ('In the Basement (Kit 10)').

Cape Farewell: Art and Climate Change opens this Saturday, 16 September 2006, continuing as part of Liverpool Biennial until 26 November 2006.

The exhibition is spread across several venues. Of our venues, the Walker and the Conservation Centre are participating, displaying works by Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey, Alex Hartley, David Buckland, Gautier Deblonde, Gary Hume and Nick Edwards.

Other works are in the Anglican Cathedral, Albert Dock and the Liverpool School of Art and Design, Hope Street (map).

To my shame I admit I have never been to Hope Street Festival, which this year takes place on Sunday 17 Sept. Reading the run down it's really hard not to be impressed. It's a free festival - and it's all in one street.

Mmmm.....food. Liverpool Real Ale Festival. Massage. Cartoons at the Phil. Jigs and reels. Jewellery. Trinkets to buy. Farmers' market. Mexican BBQ. That's me sold. See you Sunday - 11am till 5pm.  

Gareth Kemp has been a very busy man. By day he works in the National Museums Liverpool handling team, who have had their work cut out preparing the John Moores 24 and Cape Farewell exhibitions for the Biennial. In his spare time not only has he organised a series of exhibitions around the grand hallways of the Albany Building in Old Hall Street for the Independents section of the Biennial, he has also painted a fair few of the artworks on display himself.

Gaerth is pictured, relaxing at last, in the Soup versus Gazpacho exhibition upstairs in the Albany Building. The show features work by Tate Liverpool staff on the Soup side facing work by National Museums Liverpool staff on the Gazpacho side. Contributors include information assistants, technical services staff, gallery attendants, admin staff, photographers and curators who work with some of the nation's great collections every day. Has this inspired them to produce great works of art themselves? Well I was impressed. If you're in the area why not have a look to see what you think. The exhibition is open from 10.30am to 4.30pm every day until 19 November 2006.

Pulling together major exhibitions like John Moores 24 can be an eventful experience for those responsible. Here are Curator of Fine Art at the Walker Ann Bukantas' last-minute comments on the exhibition which opens this weekend.
 
'Since 1957. 24th exhibition. 2,300 paintings. Liverpool. Dark room. Five jurors. Four days. Five personalities. Five viewpoints. 3,450 slides. Practice session. Criteria, democratic decisions. Confidentiality. Anonymity maintained. Personal taste. Discussion. Professional knowledge. Careers, reputations, merit. Titled, untitled. Details. White sheets, artists’ gardens. Cats, cosmic, taupe. Yes. No. Maybe. Coffee, biscuits, late nights, alcohol. Slide dreams. Press calls. Bonding. Gallows humour. 268 shortlisted. Liverpool. Warehouse. Re-aquainted. Three days. Big sofa. Handlers. Painting parade. Issues arise, resolve. Is it knowing? Yes. No. Maybe. 52 selected. Favourites listed. Votes cast. Re-cast. Prizewinners. £25,000. Roof party. Napkin hats. Catalogue. Exhibition. Results announced. Visit the show. See our winner. Debate. Vote for yours.'

Curator of Continental European Art Xanthe Brooke's picture of the month talk at the Walker Art Gallery for September was on Rembrandt van Rijn's 'Self-portrait as a young man'. A recording of the talk is now available online (mp3/transcript/links).

The painting was in the news earlier this year when the Rembrandt Research Project, suggested that it was painted by a studio assistant, Isack Jouderville, rather than Rembrandt. Xanthe's talk explains why curators and conservators at National Museums Liverpool don't believe it is possible to make such a firm judgement at this time.

Xanthe discusses the Rembrandt Research Project, the missing 'd' in the Walker painting's signature, the use of UV lights for looking at disturbances in the paint surface, Jan Lievens and the Royal Collection of Charles I, Penshurst Place, dendrochronology and why Rembrandt painted so many self-portraits.

Something I love about popping into the sculpture conservation studio at the National Conservation Centre is you get to see all sorts of monuments and sculptures up close and from angles that wouldn't normally be possible. Earlier this year I got to look up Queen Victoria's skirt (probably not something I should admit to - I'll be sent to the Tower). Yesterday I got to see the Britannia sculpture from the war memorial at Crewe and Nantwich from above, which only the birds get to do usually. The sculpture is currently being cleaned by conservator Marisa Prandelli.

The public don't usually get to go behind the scenes like this. However, conservators will be holding special tours of their studios in a series of open days on 5 October, 8 November and 5 December 2006. Places are free but numbers are limited so please book in advance by ringing 0151 478 4999. For more details please see the What's On pages.

Up close you can see the horses decorating the Britannia sculpture's helmet

First a preview image, then a construction shot, now Airside have sent us a movie clip of their Insyde installation which opens at the Walker Art Gallery this Saturday 16 September 2006 as part of the Liverpool Biennial.

The movie clip (with sound) is available to view here.

Anne-Marie Hughes working on the Vivienne Westwood dress

Today textile conservator Anne-Marie Hughes showed me two Vivienne Westwood outfits that she has been working on.

The first, a knitted woollen dress from the designer's Buffalo Girls Collection of 1982, has quite a few small holes that need repairing. Just finding wool to match the original colours was quite a challenge.

In better condition is a tartan suit, complete with bondage trousers, from Vivienne Westwood's Anglomania Collection of the early 1990s. The suit, which used to belong to Holly Johnson, has just needed surface cleaning to make it ready for display.

These items and more are currently being prepared for a new display in the Craft and Design gallery at the Walker that will open at the end of this year.

Holly Johnson's Vivienne Westwood suit

Liverpool Echo has today printed a handy Liverpool Biennial map showing all of the venues where the action will be taking place. If you missed picking up a copy at the shops you can print off a copy the map instead. (NB the map is a pdf. file).

The map is very basic, so the Biennial site is probably the best place to check out the full details of events - but  this is a quick way to plan your route about town.

This morning I took my daughter along to the Walker Art Gallery for the Monday morning 'carer and toddler' session in the Big Art gallery. Keeping a rabble of under 4s entertained is no mean feat - but the great thing is that it is completely informal, so you don't need to worry if your child gets fidgety.

On arrival, we were greeted by a member of staff who directed us to the paper and chalks. Then we gathered into a group for a stories and rhymes with the facilitator Ros who used puppets and 'lift the flap' books to engage the children.  

Getting stuck into books in Big Art

Some of the children were really attentive while others wandered around and explored the many toys and activities available on the gallery. Helpfully, Ros had already pointed out that it doesn't matter what the children are doing, as long as they are enjoying themselves. There's no pressure to make your child sit down and listen - which is a real blessing for all the parents and carers. Eva spent an eventful hour dressing up the magnetic dolls, colouring-in, playing with coloured dough and generally having fun!

Dressing up the magnetic dollies

And at the end of the hour there are free refreshments - tea / coffee / juice and (really quite spectacular) biscuits - in the Walker's cafe.

This session is being repeated on Moday 18th and 25th of September from 10.00am until 11.15am. You'll need to book your free place in advance  - call 0151 478 4178 for further details.

Image of John Gilbert from the monument at Gilbert’s Lookout, Taroom, Australia

Clem Fisher, our intrepid curator of birds and mammals at World Museum Liverpool has sent back a report on the Ludwig Leichhardt Rally in Australia:

"The Rally has finished and was a wild success, especially the re-enactments of the Leichhardt Expedition. During one the actors pretending to be the Leichhardt Expedition were confronted by Aborigines with spears - they didn't warn us about that and most of us nearly had heart attacks as the Aborigines rushed over the hill towards the horses ridden by the other actors. They then changed back into their dungarees and hats and joined us for Smoko (tea).

There were also lots of talks, some by me, lots of great big slabs of very nice beef, lots of outback poets and singers, lots of travelling along the expedition route by 4 wheel drive and visiting the original expedition campsites and in some cases seeing the same birds they saw 160 years ago!

Yesterday we were following the Dunny Truck (mobile loos) over a ford in the Burdekin River when it go stuck and had to be winched out. We thought it was really funny until we came back through the ford at the end of the day and lost the radiator fan and half the radiator. So I have time to report back while it gets fixed."

Clem might be able to send some pictures when she reaches the next big town, Mount Isa. In the meantime I've used a reconstructive image of John Gilbert, the noted naturalist who was killed on the original Leichhardt expedition in 1845. Chris Clayton of National Museums Liverpool’s design department created this image for the monument at Gilbert’s Lookout, Taroom, which Clem unveiled during her last visit to Australia.