National Museums Liverpool Blog - Monday, August 17, 2009

As regular visitors will realise, there are always small changes taking place within our galleries, even in the 'permanent' displays, as objects do occasionally get removed for loans or conservation treatment. An example is the painting 'Elaine' painted by Sophie Anderson, which is going to be included in the exhibition 'The Rise of Women Artists' at the Walker from 23 October 2009. Framing conservator Roy Irlam is using this opportunity to address particular areas of the painting's framework, as access to this painting has been difficult due to its high position on the gallery wall. You can see photos of the de-installation in our Moving stories Flickr set. Handling and transport technician Paula Frew explains just how this large painting was safely removed from display below.

Installing 'Daniel in the Lion's Den' in the Walker

"The handling and transport team use specialised equipment for paintings at this height which include a block and tackle system used to elevate and lower paintings. Each block and tackle section is equipped to take a safe working load of 250kg which are suspended from a lifting strap (SWL 1000kgs) which is attached to a load bearing picture rail.

Another piece of equipment which is an old favourite of the team's goes by the fanciful name of 'Airwolf'. It's a gas operated hydraulic lift that enables technicians to access the heights needed to reach the galleries picture rails.

The most recent addition to the team's repertoire of equipment is an electrical hydraulic lift embellished with the title of 'Leonardo'. This machine takes the weight of one person and can be operated at its base or by the operator in the caged platform area at various heights to move around the gallery area. Unfortunately it doesn't go as high as the 'Airwolf' and is therefore restricted.

The Mobile Elevated Towers named 'Pulpit Towers' are mobile platforms that have replaced ladders due to the new ladder regulations and adhere to the new safety rulings.

The large maroon coloured machine is called the 'Sumner lift'. This machine has been specifically adapted to take a 500kg weight, having counterbalanced weights in the enclosed basket. The machine can access heavy paintings at particular heights on its forks. It works on a ratchet and geared system operated manually, preferably by someone who has eaten a lot of spinach!

The equipment has to be condition checked before use which takes time, so the team started at 7.30am to make headway before the Walker opened to the public at 10am. Once it opened we barricaded off half of the gallery space rather than closing it completely to the public. We found that the visitors were more interested in our operation than they were in the collections!

Before taking down 'Elaine' we removed the painting beneath it 'The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden' using the Sumner lift machine. The team then set up the block and tackle for 'Elaine' and removed it safely.

The painting 'Daniel in the Lion's Den' by Riviere has recently returned to the Walker after going out on loan to the British Museum for their 'Babylon' exhibition. We installed this painting in place of 'Elaine' using the block and tackle system, then re-installed 'The Expulsion of Adam and Eve...' beneath it and re-opened the remaining gallery space."

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be allowed to tag along on a shoot of a video interview with internationally acclaimed artist, Emma Rodgers.

I went with our audio visual team to her house on the Wirral, where she has her studio. They needed to film Emma because her work is going to be included in our forthcoming exhibition ‘The Rise of Women Artists’ , which will be at the Walker Art Gallery from 23 October 2009 - 14 March 2010. This video would be used to create one of the interactive displays for visitors to explore in the gallery and also to make video clips for our website.

The team filmed her working on some of her sculptures, while she answered questions about her inspirations, early career and what it means for her to be a female artist.

It was really interesting to hear about the processes that Emma goes through when creating a sculpture, whether this is of animals or humans. Sketches form the foundation of her work, sometimes from observations at Chester Zoo and also during animal autopsies at Leahurst on the Wirral. Through her work, Emma also travels abroad regularly. This also helps her study of animal’s bodies as she is sometimes lucky enough to hold animals like monkeys. She said she had been able to get to know the character traits of different primates, which also influences the way she depicts them in her sculptures. Emma clearly loves animals as well as finding them inspiring – we even met her pet hare, Mr. Redfern, who she said has helped her think about joints and bone structures in her work.

Emma has also spent time observing and sketching dancers and said she is fascinated by their muscle structures and how their bodies become altered through dancing. As she was answering questions from curator, Robin Emerson, she was building up a sculpture of a woman’s body, piece by piece.

You’ll have to wait until the exhibition opens on 23 October 2009 to see the video clips and find out how that sculpture turned out! In the mean time you can find out more about Emma's work on her website or browse through our Emma Rodgers Flickr set.

Cpt Henry Saalmans OBE. Image courtesy Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

I prefer the cold to the heat – at least you can usually escape into the warmth when temperatures plunge. It is more difficult to get away from excessive heat. However, those who were on the Arctic convoys in the Second World War endured the dual hardships of battling both the enemy and the cold.

More than 100 Allied merchant ships on Arctic Ocean convoys were sent to the bottom by the Germans during a four-year period. Between June 1941 and May 1945 one in every 20 Allied ships (a total of 104) sailing to and from north Russia was sunk.

These figures are comparable with the worst annual sinking rates for 1942 for the much more numerous North Atlantic convoys during the war. The cost of the Russian convoys to the Royal Navy was also high. Among the 22 ships it lost were the cruisers Edinburgh and Trinidad. The German navy lost four surface warships and 31 U-boat submarines.

On both sides casualty rates among crews were often even higher than in the Atlantic due to the bitterly cold Arctic weather. In mid-September 1942 the strongly-protected convoy PQ18 lost one third of its merchant ships (13 out of 39) to German aircraft and U-boats.

Just two months earlier the disastrous PQ17 had lost two-thirds (24 out of 35). The main damage to both convoys had been caused by aircraft. The switching of many of these aircraft to other theatres of war led to much lower losses on later Arctic convoys.

On display in the Battle of the Atlantic gallery in Merseyside Maritime Museum is a picture showing a convoy PQ18 ammunition ship exploding after being attacked by aircraft.

There are wartime mementos of Liverpool-born Captain Henry Saalmans OBE (pictured). He was master of the 3,000-ton Empire Bard which sailed in convoy to Russia in March 1942.

After surviving heavy air attacks, Empire Bard arrived at Murmansk on 6 May. For the next 10 months, in the absence of cargo-handling equipment on shore, she used her own deck cranes to help Allied merchant ships to unload their cargoes.

By the end of her stay in Murmansk, despite being damaged several times by air attacks, she had handled a mammoth 27,000 tons of war supplies for Russia. Captain Saalmans was awarded the Order of the British Empire and the Lloyd’s War medal for his efforts.

Exhibits include these medals along with his sheepskin coat lining worn on Arctic convoys.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents, bookshops or from the Mersey Shop website (£1.50 p&p UK).

Sister Marina, Walton Prison. Copyright Liverpool Daily Post and Echo.

There's just over a month to go now until the exhibition 'Liverpool people by Stephen Shakeshaft' opens at the National Conservation Centre. The exhibition will be packed full photographs spanning Stephen's career as photographer and picture editor at the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo.

There are lots of great photos that didn't quite make it into the exhibition itself, like this one, which prompted Stephen to reminisce about the time he spent behind bars - just visiting to take photographs of course.

"I photographed Sister Marina visiting Walton Prison. Her smile and compassion were for all - she was there to comfort those who needed her faith, solace, prayers and hope.

A hand stretched through the bars of a locked cell and a finger tapped me on the shoulder - looking round all I could see were dark penetrating staring eyes and a finger that seemed to be 6 inches long - the other hand came through the bars and I was offered a tin cup full of tea. I hesitated, smiled and took a sip - the warden teased me with a suggestion that there was something else in the cup that I would not want to drink!

One of the most uncomfortable situations I found myself in was covering life in a women's prison. Entering the recreation room I was confronted by more than 20 women prisoners, their jokes and repartee was X certificate - all to the amusement of the Governor, who wore a long white mac with epilettes and black knee length boots!"

I wanted to write something in tribute to Les Paul who died yesterday at the age of 94. Les Paul was a jazz musician who persuaded guitar maker Gibson to create a solid-bodied electric guitar. He’d already cobbled together such a guitar from a railway sleeper and a couple of pick-ups, but when Gibson refined ‘The Log’, the Gibson Les Paul was born. The Gibson Les Paul is an iconic guitar played by some of the most innovative rock guitarists the world has ever seen. Pete Townsend, Jimmy Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Slash to name but a few. I visited The Beat Goes On exhibition at World Museum to see if any trace of Les Paul’s influence could be found, and although there aren’t any Les Pauls in the exhibition I did find this rather familiar walk-through! (I should mention there are several other splendid guitars such as Will Sergeant's customised Telecaster and one owned by Billy Fury). Perhaps I should have also looked in the recording section because Les Paul also developed revolutionary multi-tracking techniques, but that is another story.

I then popped into St George’s Hall to see ‘For George – A Tribute to George Harrison’. (That's a lot of Georges). If you are a Beatle fan or enjoyed The Beat Goes On then make the effort to see this small but heart-warming exhibition dedicated to George. The display was created by fans for fans and features some lovely pictures, a few taken by Patti Boyd. It is like a little snapshot of all things George – his music projects, his film interests, his racing, Friar Park, The Beatles of course. There’s incense burning and a devotional feel, reflecting George’s dedication to his spiritual development, as well as his fans devotion to him.  It is only a small room but there is a lot to see if you take the time to have a proper look.

In particular I really enjoyed seeing some of the instruments that shaped George’s music, including a rare Gibson longneck banjolele (a cross between ukulele and a banjo) and a sitar. There wasn’t a Les Paul in sight – but it matters not, because here is where we find our Les Paul connection. George is associated with all manner of guitars, such Epiphone, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, and Fender , yet that mellow, rich and warm Les Paul sound will always define one song in particular - ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. The guitar solo was played on a cherry red 1957 Les Paul Standard – a gift from Eric Clapton – which he christened Lucy. (Infact it was Eric that played on the track)

Just put on the record. It’s as fitting tribute as any to Mr Les Paul – and it will explain better than my words just what all the fuss is about.

When they handling team say they're moving houses they usually mean literally!

As I've mentioned many times before, there's never a dull moment for the handling and transport team. Since I last reported on their activities they have safely transported a huge variety of objects from our collections, including ship models, paintings, a stained glass window and some Hindu Gods (well, sculptures of them, anyway). Some have been moved from storage to the conservation studios for treatment and back again, other objects have been gone on or off display and a few have ben loaned to other organisations.

Some of the more unusual jobs have involved taking a whole rack of uniforms to the conservation freezer to treat a possible insect infestation and weighing weapons from the collection in order to determine the floor loadings of planned displays in the new Museum of Liverpool.

On a rare break from work a few weeks ago the team had a sneak preview of the new galleries currently under construction at the Museum of Liverpool. They were all impressed by the scale and design of the building. However in the back of their minds I'm sure they were all thinking the same thing - they'll have their work cut out installing all of the many objects in this huge building in time for the opening.

You can see what they've been up to in the Moving stories Flickr set of photos.

'The Scapegoat'

If you caught this week's episode of 'Desperate Romantics' you'll already know that some of our Pre-Raphaelite paintings featured pretty heavily. There was the Lady Lever's The Scapegoat looking resplendent; an imagined, in progress 'Dante's Dream' from the Walker's collection, and Millais' 'Bubbles' which was the cause of much amusement to the TV Brotherhood.

If you didn't catch the episode there's always the BBC iplayer.

Voting in the National Lottery awards closes at midday today so we REALLY need you to vote if you've not done so already. You can vote online on the National Lottery Good Causes website, or by calling 0844 686 6957.

And 'thank you' if you have already!

Send us your memories about Liverpool!

Here at the Walker Art Gallery, in partnership with the University of Liverpool, we are launching an exciting new programme of adult and family events inspired by Ben Johnson’s 'Liverpool Cityscape.'

Join us for cultural walks around the city or bring your little artists to Big Art and try out making collages inspired by this impressive panorama. Like all our events and exhibitions, it is all free!

We'd also like to hear about your memories, views and opinions of Liverpool past and present in our event; 'We Love Liverpool' taking place at the Walker.  All of the comments we get from you will be recorded to form a living history of the Liverpool.

If you can't make it to the gallery you can still submit your memories by adding a blog comment below. So let us know what you think...

I'm not holding out too much hope of seeing anything that looks like a Perseid tonight. The Beeb is suggesting a fair amount of cloud cover in the vicinity of my house 

In case you don't know the Perseids are an annual meteor shower that occurs when the Earth passes through dust debris from the comet, Swift-Tuttle. It reaches its peak tonight and should be a good show for people lucky enough to live in an area without too much light pollution or cloud cover. Plus you shouldn't need any fancy equipment to either see or photograph them, just look to the north east after dark.

And if you do get to see and photograph any of the shower you might want to tweet on the Astronomy2009 Twitter page - a 48-hour Twitter marathon being run as part of the International Year of Astronomy.

Rain or shine, getting out on the River Mersey is always a fun trip and Curator of Botany, Geraldine Reid, has taken part in one of this year's Mersey Ferry Discovery Cruises. Here she is to tell us more about them...

Looking at plankton aboard a Mersey ferry. Image courtesy of Jennifer Welch.

Last Friday, with staff from the Clore Natural History Centre and aquarium, I took part in my first Mersey Ferry Discovery Cruise. It was with some trepidation of what to expect on the high seas of the Mersey that I ventured out. The day started over at Seacombe with us getting the plankton nets out and throwing them over the side of the ferry (attached to a long line) to get samples of the water so that we could demonstrate why the estuary is such a haven for birds. These are very fine nets which we pull through the water to catch the microscopic animals (zooplankton) and plants (phytoplankton) that it contains. These tiny organisms are indicators of the health of the estuary. Plankton essentially is anything that cannot swim against the current.

As the ferry headed over to the pier head to pick up the next passengers we got the microscopes set up. We got out specimens from the  World Museum's collection of marine life that had been washed ashore along the shore of the Mersey. These included dolphin and porpoise skulls, a bone from a whale, seaweed, shells and lots more.  The deck also had colourful displays from the RSPB and the Environment Agency. The water samples we’d collected earlier were a great hit, they where teeming with life all brought to light by the video link on the microscope to a computer-screen. The water was full with lots of beautiful plankton - diatoms floating in chains past our eyes with the sudden excitement of barnacle naupli and copepods dashing past the screen followed by the gentle pulsating of sea-gooseberries gliding past.  

In our spare moments we saw a whole array of birds from a peregrine falcon to arctic skua and a whole variety of gulls. There was also a running commentary by the RSBC spotter on what to look out for and in which direction. We even saw a cheeky seal having a nap on a sandbank. The view from the ferry gave you a really unique view of the shoreline along the Mersey out to Formby. It was a great day out for all the family young and old.

The next cruise takes place on Tuesday 18 August 2009 and looks to be another action packed day.

The cruise will pick up passengers from; Seacombe at 11am, Pier Head (Liverpool) at 11.10am and Woodside at 11.20am. The trip will last about three hours. Tickets cost £10 for adults, £5 for children.

For more details, or to book, contact Mersey Ferries on 0151 330 1444 or visit their website.

My view of Trafalgar Square from the Fourth Plinth

It's my first day back in work after a short break today, and I feel that I've returned with a whole new level of understanding of the works of art that I promote on the blog and website. For while I was off I did more than just DIY and sunbathing. I actually experienced what it feels like to be a work of art myself when I spent an hour on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of Antony Gormley's One and Other project. One hour, one plinth, one Sam.

I've spent many hours amongst the crowds in Trafalgar Square but have never had those crowds watching and photographing me before. One man asked if I was going to do anything, which is a bit of a strange thing to ask a sculpture. I've never heard anyone ask any of the figures in the Walker's sculpture gallery if they were going to do anything, our visitors seem quite content to appreciate the sculptures as they are with no expectations of entertainment.

I did do something on the plinth though - I took lots of photos (which you can see in my Fourth Plinth Flickr set), I talked to people, I chased a very persistent pigeon and I waved at a lot of people on open top tour buses. That's something that I miss now that I've returned to ground level - I still wave at the tour buses that go past in Liverpool but nobody on them is remotely interested in waving back to me any more now that I'm just a regular person again.

With so many distractions the hour passed very quickly. I really enjoyed my time on the plinth but don't think I could handle that level of attention and public scrutiny every day. I'll try to be kinder and less critical of any sculptures I see in the future, now that I know the kind of pressures they face being viewed each day, some of them patiently sitting outside in all weathers for the public's enjoyment.

As usual, when I was down in the capital I caught up with a few familiar faces, in this case 'Echo and Narcissus', who appear in the Walker Art Gallery painting that is currently on loan to the Waterhouse exhibition at the Royal Academy. It's a fantastic exhibition which also features 'The Decameron' from the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

The Hawkhurst Gang. The text beneath the image reads: Galley and Chater falling off their Horse at Woodash, draggs thier Heads on the Ground, while the Horse kicks them as he goes; the Smugglers still continuing thier brutish usage.

When I was at primary school in the 1950s we used to enjoy singing the popular Smugglers’ Song with words by Rudyard Kipling:

Five and twenty ponies
Trotting through the dark –
Brandy for the Parson,
Tobacco for the Clerk:
Laces for a lady; letters for a spy,
And watch the wall my darling, while the Gentlemen go by!

Running round the woodpile if you chance to find
Little barrels, roped and tarred, all full of brandy wine;
Don’t you shout to come and look, nor take them for your play;
Put the brushwood back again – and they’ll be gone next day!

It is a song that races along but embraces a popular myth masking the brutal reality behind smuggling. It is true that gangs of smugglers operated right along the coast with whole communities involved.

However, sickening violence could be used by smugglers driven by greed, poverty and lack of employment. Customs men often assisted by soldiers, used counter-measures which were both brutal and harsh, including the death penalty.

It was not until the 1840s with the introduction of free trade and the reduction of excise duties that smuggling was reduced.

The Hawkhurst Gang of Sussex smugglers was notoriously violent in the era of highwaymen and pirates. In 1748 gang member Daniel Chater was arrested by Customs officer William Galley and turned informer.

When both men were captured by other members of the gang Galley was beaten, tied to his horse and had his nose cut off. Chater was hung down a well and stoned to death.

The stark reality of the lives of smugglers past and present is revealed in the new Merseyside Maritime Museum gallery Seized: Revenue & Customs Uncovered.

On display in Seized is a contemporary print showing the two men hung upside down while they are whipped by gang members. Another shows Chater being thrust down the well.

In 1785 it was discovered that most of the fishing fleet in Deal, Kent, was involved in smuggling. The fishermen were desperate to earn a living. Every vessel was burnt to ashes on the orders of the Prime Minister William Pitt, who was just 26.

Exhibits include weapons used by smugglers and Customs officers – a blunderbuss, musket, pistols, swords and cutlasses. You can see some of them here.

A smugglers’ lantern has a spout which directed a beam of light to avoid detection. A sinking stone was used to secure smuggled casks to the seabed while a grappling hook was used by smugglers to retrieve their contraband. 

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents, bookshops or from the Mersey Shop website (£1.50 p&p UK).

The International Slavery Museum

The momentum is really building now for the International Slavery Museum and our bid to win Best Heritage Project in the National Lottery Awards - which we still need your votes for! This week the head of the museum, Richard Benjamin, was interviewed on BBC Radio Merseyside about why the museum should win the award and also talking about the latest exhibition; 'Black Brittania'.

You can hear Richard's interview on the Claire Hamilton show here - listen from the 6pm mark onwards!

Check out our curators on the live webcam at BBC Radio Merseyside.

They're there all day until 5pm talking to people about their memories of Speke Airport for the Museum of Liverpool, so why not pop down and have a chat?

Or, if you're a bit of a whizz at making paper aeroplanes, go along and see if you can make a winner in our longest flight competition!