Lady Lever Art Gallery

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Lady Lever Art Gallery, exterior view

The Lady Lever Art Gallery is an art museum in Bebington near Liverpool, opened in 1922 by the British industrialist William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme in memory of his wife Elizabeth Leverhulme .

history

William Lever, who came from a humble background, was made a baron in 1917 and then made a viscount in 1922 . His wife was therefore named Lady Lever, which gives the gallery its name.

The building of the Lady Lever Art Gallery was built in the classical style from 1914, in the middle of the working-class residential town of Port Sunlight, built by the philanthropist Lever in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral on the Mersey in England . Since 1888, Lever had built a socially responsible living environment for the workers in his soap factories . At the opening of the gallery, Lever presented the most famous paintings in his private collection, often contemporary paintings that he had bought for a long time as part of his efforts to improve general education and that he now wanted to share with the public.

collection

The gallery is known for the paintings it shows depicting the art of 19th century Great Britain. These include works from the Pre-Raphaelite circle such as pictures by John Everett Millais . The gallery also contains paintings from late 18th century England, for example by William Turner , as well as furniture from that period and a remarkable collection of porcelain from the Wedgwood ceramics company . Today, special exhibitions from other eras are often shown in the gallery.

The building is a listed building ( Grade II * ) and is now part of the National Museum Liverpool .

Exhibited works (selection)

John Everett Millais, The Black Brunswicker , 1860

In Great Britain and beyond, the following 19th century works exhibited in the Lady Lever Art Gallery are particularly well known:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of the Lady Lever Art Gallery . In: Lady Lever Art Gallery, official website, accessed February 2011
  2. Liverpool . In: Baedeker Allianz Travel Guide Great Britain . Ostfildern 1998
  3. National Museums Liverpool (English)

Web links

Commons : Lady Lever Art Gallery  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 53 ° 21 '20.9 "  N , 2 ° 59' 57.5"  W.