Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester

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Manchester Art Gallery's amazing collection of fine and decorative art has been redisplayed in a innovative and imaginative way, with each gallery space having a special theme within a broadly historical framework.
A major highlight of the fine art collection is the outstanding collection of 19th century Pre-Raphaelite paintings. The gallery spaces in the new wing are now dedicated to 20th century British art. Manchester Art Gallery also owns an internationally renowned collection of decorative art, including ceramics, metalwork, textiles and furniture. The collection is astonishingly diverse, ranging from ancient Greek pottery to contemporary furniture.

Open: Tues-Sun and Bank Holiday Mondays, 10.00-17.00

Closed Mondays, Good Friday, 24-26 December, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

ADMISSION FREE

The Manchester Art Gallery showcases a lot of north western artists, and has a good selection of pre-Raphaelites as well. There is also an interactive gallery for kids and the curious among you. The building was once the Victorian Royal Institution and has been a gallery since the late 1800's. It's had extensive renovations and houses a good solid collection of Victorian art.

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I have to admit that the gallery was an excellent place to visit and it held more than I had expected. It is well worth a visit - they always seem to have a great mix of permanent collection and visiting exhibitions.

The Manchester Art Gallery has a wide range of artwork including an exceptional collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, although they have work from many eras, from ancient pottery to contemporary art.
Personaly I am not really into Art but i did enjoy a nice look around the Gallary here.

The Gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am untill 5pm. It is closed Mondays, except for bank Holidays. It is also closed on New Years Day, Good Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Eve.

A fantastic place to while away an afternoon, as well as a varied and interesting permanent collection and high-quality visiting exhibitions, the thing I really like about this gallery is the wonderful descriptions of the stories behind the paintings, making it all far more interesting! As with all the Manchester Galleries, there are fantastic activities for kids.

Manchester has one of the best permanent collections of Pre-Raphaelite work in the UK, ranging from the early 1850's paintings of Holman Hunt and Rosetti through to the later works of William Waterhouse (my favourite).
The Pre-Raphaelites created an entirely new style of painting using bright colours and taking medieval chivalry and romance for their inspiration. They also documented some of the social themes of the Victorian age - work, religion and emigration as well as commenting on the morality of the times. Many of the paintings are inspired by literature such as The Lady of Shalott and Ophelia.
The permanent Pre-Raphaelite collection is on the first floor, Manchester City Art Gallery.
The gallery is a great place to spend a few hours. The second floor has changing exhibitions varying from traditional to contemporary and the ground floor has a shop, and a cafe which is a great place to have lunch. They serve really good food, the soup is particularly good, and you can also have a glass of wine.

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Despite its reputation it really doesn't rain ALL the time in Manchester (sometimes it snows!). But when it does rain there is still always plenty to do as the city hosts a profusion of art galleries, museums and other "rainy day" attractions, not least of which are its eclectic collection of pubs!

The pubs aside though, the veritable "Jewel in the Crown" has to be the city's main art gallery which used be called "The City Art Gallery" but is now simply called "The Manchester Art Gallery".

It may have changed its name since I lived here and undergone a multi-million pound revamp but, as with the city itself, it still retains its original fascinations and delights with the modern additions being a bonus rather than a detraction. This is a perfect example of a municipal art gallery offering a stunningly diverse range of artworks, of both local and international renown, classical and contemporary, and has set out to appeal to as wide a cross-section of the populus as possible. The gallery is particularly family-friendly with a couple of the rooms devoted specifically to interactive exhibitions intended to appeal to children of all ages and if my last visit is typical it certainly succeeds.

As an interesting piece of history the original collections were gifted to the then Manchester Corporation in 1882 by the Royal Society on the proviso that the Corporation invested at least 4,000 pounds a year on further aquisitions and the gallery quickly outgrew its original space. A second gallery was then built (The Athenaeum), immediately behind, to house the overflow and the latest revamp has now connected the two buildings and created a further atrium space which now hosts various temporary exhibitions such as the current Choe U-ram's works (pic 3).

The gallery's permanent collection includes works by many British and European masters from the 17th and 18th centuries as well as more modern pieces such as Henry Moore's "Mother and Child" and of course examples of Manchester's very own LS Lowry's uniquely idiosyncratic style. The permanent collection also features what is regarded as one of the finest aquisitions of works by the Pre-Raphaelites who's works were contemporary with the city's heyday and it is indeed Rossetti's rather georgeous women that have stuck in my mind ever since my first visit here all those years ago.

The top floor is used for various temporary exhibitions and at the time of writing is host to a fascinating set of sculptures by the Korean artist Gwon Osang and a summer holiday spectacular based around the works of children's author and illustrator Lauren Child who was briefly a student here at Manchester Poly.

This really is well worth the visit and of course being municipal is also free (though a small donation is always appreciated). Opening times are Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm plus bank holiday Mondays.

This municipal art gallery has historic galleries covering the 17th century, 18th century, early 19th century, and Victorian periods, a well as a good collection of Pre-Raphaelite works. One of the highlights for me, in addition to the Pre-Raphaelites, was Landseer's 'The Desert' - a study of a dead lion that supposedly inspired the design for the labels of Lyle's Golden Syrup tins.

There are also modern galleries covering Lowry and Valette and contemporary art. The CIS Manchester gallery is intended to 'celebrate the creativity of Manchester'. Here can be found more Landseer lions - pressed glass paperweights representing Landseer's Trafalgar Square lions.

Admission Free.

Open Tuesday - Sunday 10am - 5pm. Closed Mondays (except Bank Holidays), 1 January, Good Friday, 24-26, 31 December.

The cafe on the ground floor is a large and airy space, with an appealing range of cakes. A cup of tea and very fresh pain au raisin cost £3.60.