York Art Gallery

✨ Featured ceramicist ✨

Susie Lonie uses slip casting and hand building to create her sculptural, playful and quirky bird designs. Starting with a basic lidded bowl, Susie experimented with an owl design, using decorative decal papers after glazing to create more personality than realism! The rooster design followed, loosely based on the iconic Portuguese ‘Galo de Barcelos’, and then the duck form, after watching ducks in the Thames nearer to home in London.

A selection of Susie’s fine featherware pieces are now on sale in our ceramics shop, so pop down and take a look! 🦆🦉🐓

📣 New job opportunity!

We have a great new role available for an Audience Analysis Officer working across our museums, art gallery and gardens here at York Museums Trust.

We are looking for someone to help us gather together and analyse data about our audiences, feedback from visitors and the visitor market to help us make decisions about how we attract and look after visitors and offer them a great experience.

For more details about this new opening visit our website at: https://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/about-us/our-people/jobvacancies/

There are just a handful of tickets left for this Saturday's life drawing workshop! ✏️✨

Join artist Rob Oldfield at the gallery from 2pm-4pm (Saturday 13th July).

Whether you are a regular participant, would like to hone your skills, or try life drawing for the first time, these two-hour immersive Saturday sessions are a wonderful way to experience life drawing in a supportive and friendly environment.

Find out more and book a place at: https://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/whats-on/events/life-drawing-model-as-muse-34/

We’re celebrating a midsummer milestone! 🎉

We’re thrilled to share that we have welcomed over 20,000 visitors to Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ since opening the exhibition back in May.

This stunning cake, featuring the iconic 125-year-old painting, was crafted by the talented decorators at Bettys in York to mark the occasion! 🍰

And what better place to have this presented to us than the Monet-inspired wildflower meadow behind the gallery? This was cultivated especially for the exhibition, by the team at York Museum Gardens. 🌼 🐝

🗓️ The exhibition will run until 8 September, so there’s still plenty of time to catch it over the summer!

National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

📷 Photos by Gareth Buddo.

National Gallery

Did you know it was once considered radical to paint outside? 🎨

French landscape artists who had broken with tradition started to paint en plein air during the early 1800s. This term refers to the practice of creating finished pictures outdoors, in the open air, rather than in the studio. 🌀

This piece is by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) and depicts the countryside surrounding Rome, it was painted from the gardens of the Vatican. Monet was deeply inspired by Corot’s landscape paintings and even referred to him as the master of painting! 👑

📍 This painting is on display as part of our current exhibition National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’

🖼️ View of the Convent of Sant’Onofrio on the Janiculum, Rome, 1826 - Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796–1875)

National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

Photograph © The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

National Gallery

✨ Featured ceramicist ✨

Ben Arnup is a long-established potter in York. His work is in public and private collections in both Europe and America, including in the collection here at the Centre of Ceramic Art!

Using coloured clay slab-constructed stoneware, Ben's shallow pots explore drawn perspective, subtly playing with our perceptions of form.

Check out the new stock, including work recently featured in Ben’s Open Studio exhibition, now on sale in the ceramics shop! 🛍️

Check out these vibrant Japanese woodblock prints! 🎨

Ukiyo-e, meaning ‘pictures of the floating world’, is an art form that blossomed in Japan from 1600 to 1868 🌸 Think Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige.

Fast forward to the 1860s, Paris fell head over heels for Japanese prints like these and guess who took notice? Monet!

He proudly decorated the walls of his Giverny home with his collection of over 200 prints, planted Japanese peonies and bamboo around the banks of his waterlily pool and constructed an arched Japanese-style bridge, which can be seen in ‘The Water-Lily Pond’.

🔗 Explore Monet’s inspirations further in our current special exhibition: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/national-treasures-monet-in-york-the-water-lily-pond/

National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

National Gallery

Are you mad about Monet? 😍

Our gallery shop is fully stocked with a beautiful collection of Monet-themed products, including books, puzzles, decorations, jewellery, and more.

Whether you're after a reminder of your visit to see the 'The Water-Lily Pond' in York, or looking for the perfect gift for that Monet-loving friend, make sure to pop in and have a browse! 🛍️

National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

Photo by Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions.

National Gallery

There's still time to apply! 📣

We are really excited to be recruiting a Head of Development to join our senior leadership team and to lead our fundraising department and activity.

For more information and to apply please visit:
https://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/about-us/our-people/jobvacancies/

Closing date for applications is 23:59pm on Sunday 16th June 2024.

Introducing our latest commission by Michaela Yearwood-Dan! 🌸 🌷

‘Una Sinfonia’ was commissioned as part of our current exhibition, ‘National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ and is made up of a series of canvases and works on paper that were in part inspired by Monet.

For each painting, Yearwood-Dan takes a season and its associated element and presents these through her use of colour, her choice of botanical motifs, and the language embedded within the works.

Lush and brightly hued, Yearwood-Dan’s work is at once personal and political, endeavouring to build spaces of community, abundance, and joy. 🌱🌈

🔗 Book now at: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/national-treasures-monet-in-york-the-water-lily-pond/

National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

National Gallery

📷 Photo by Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions

Do these haystacks look familiar to you? 🛖

This scene, centred around Monet’s classic haystack motif, was in fact painted by the American artist Thomas Buford Meteyard! 🇺🇸

Meteyard visited Monet at his home in Giverny in 1890, at a time when Monet was exploring the effects of light on haystacks. An admiring apprentice to the French master, Meteyard created his own versions, before returning to Scituate in 1893. 🎨

Although this piece is set in Meteyard’s native country, the painting captures the enormous draw that Monet’s presence in the Norman village of Giverny exerted on aspiring artists around the world! 🌎

Delve deeper into Monet’s influence on his contemporaries in our current exhibition ‘National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’. ✨

🔗 Book now at: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/national-treasures-monet-in-york-the-water-lily-pond/

National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

Thomas Buford Meteyard, ‘Winter Scituate, Massachusetts’ 1890s, Oil on canvas
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester (Kearley Bequest, through Art Fund 1989).
Image courtesy Pallant House Gallery.

Monet meets Lichtenstein! 🤝

Did you know that Pop Art pioneer, Roy Lichtenstein found inspiration in the masterpieces of Claude Monet? 🎨💥

‘Water Lilies with Japanese Bridge’ (1992) is one of a series of six screenprints on stainless steel that Lichtenstein made on the subject of water lilies. The prints exemplify the way that Monet’s work continued to inspire and challenge artists long after his death in 1926.

Lichtenstein was a key figure in the Pop Art movement, which glorified the reproduction of images from popular culture and everyday life. This piece is an innovative and playful response to a painting that has been reproduced countless times due to its enduring popularity. 🪷

This piece and the works of others influenced by Monet are currently on display alongside the original ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ (1899) in our current exhibition ‘National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’. ✨

🔗 Book now at: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/national-treasures-monet-in-york-the-water-lily-pond/

Roy Lichtenstein, Water Lilies with Japanese Bridge, 1992 © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein/DACS 2024

National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

National Gallery

There are still some spaces available for our Monet-inspired Open Air Landscape Drawing workshop this Saturday! 🖼️

Explore the art of drawing from observation, creating an atmospheric interpretation of the landscape to represent a sense of place. ✏️

This workshop will take place on our balcony overlooking our artists’ garden and Monet inspired wildflower meadow, perfect for the warm weather expected this weekend! ☀️

🔗 Find out more and book your place at: https://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/whats-on/events/open-air-landscape-drawing/

This workshop is part of our National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ exhibition programme, supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company , as the Official Paint Partner.

National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is now open! ✨

Come and see ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ (1899) at the centre of this new exhibition, which explores Monet in the context of 19th-century French open-air painting, works by his early mentors, and the Japanese prints which transformed his practice and beloved gardens in Giverny. 🪷

By displaying canvases by the contemporaries he inspired, as well as more modern artworks and a new commission by Michaela Yearwood-Dan, the exhibition will reveal how Monet’s radical approach to painting had, and continues to have, an enduring influence on artists. 🎨

🔗 Book now at: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/national-treasures-monet-in-york-the-water-lily-pond/

National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

National Gallery

Image by Charlotte Graham Photography.

All the way from London to York 🚴‍♂️

Last week we welcomed this amazing group of cyclists as they arrived in York having pedaled 300 miles from the National Gallery!

The Gallery2Gallery ride was organised to bring together the different teams working on NG200 capital, a major building project at the National Gallery taking place during their bicentenary and concluding in May 2025.

The team were fundraising for a range of charities including The Children's Trust in Tadworth, Maggie’s, The National Brain Appeal, Crash, Groundwork and Create Arts.

What an incredible achievement! 🥇



Image by Gareth Buddo.

There are still spaces left for this Saturday's life drawing workshop! ✏️✨

Join artist Rob Oldfield at the gallery from 2pm-4pm (Saturday 11th May).

Whether you are a regular participant, would like to hone your skills, or try life drawing for the first time, these two-hour immersive Saturday sessions are a wonderful way to experience life drawing in a supportive and friendly environment.

Find out more and book tickets at: https://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/whats-on/events/life-drawing-model-as-muse-32/

Just one week to go until Monet’s ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ blooms in York! 🪷

The painting will feature as the centrepiece of an exhibition exploring the radical nature and development of Monet’s work as part of National Treasures, a programme of events celebrating 200 years of the National Gallery ✨

The exhibition will bring together key loans from regional and national institutions alongside collection works, and a large-scale commission by contemporary artist Michaela Yearwood-Dan. 🌷

🔗 Find out more at: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/national-treasures-monet-in-york-the-water-lily-pond/



National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

Fantastic folding! ✨

Children from Park Grove Primary Academy in York have been getting creative with paper to make a number of beautiful forms in origami, in anticipation for our upcoming exhibition National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’. 🪷

The pieces are reminiscent of Monet’s iconic lilies, but also reflect some of the other loans being shown as part of the exhibition such as work by Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige. 🖼️

We love these little masterpieces and hope to display some as part of the exhibition!

National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management firm JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

National Gallery

📷 Gareth Buddo

Please note that our Ceramics Shop will be closed from Wednesday 24th April until Sunday 28th April as we will be making some exciting changes! 👀

Have you seen the latest display of works from the Anthony Shaw collection yet? ✨

Shaw has been collecting art since 1973 and ‘Seeing with Another Eye’ combines some of the objects and art works he has lived with since childhood, alongside favourite pieces and exciting new acquisitions.

From domestic functional work through to monumental sculpture, the display features an array of important works by influential artists and new emerging talent. 💫

A new publication about Shaw’s collection has been published to accompany this new display. Also entitled 'Seeing with Another Eye', the book features beautiful illustrations skilfully staged by photographer Philip Sayer, as well as contributions by Anthony Shaw himself and David Whiting, who set this remarkable collection in its art historical context. 📚

🔗 The book can be ordered at: https://arnoldsche.com/en/product/seeing-with-another-eye/

Don’t miss the last chance to see the Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition 2024 this weekend! 💥

The exhibition features the work of 20 artists who tackle the issues facing the world today using a vast range of media, from drawing to large-scale sculpture and digital art. 🌎

🔗 Find out more and plan your visit at: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/the-aesthetica-art-prize-2024/

🗓️ On display until Sunday 21 April 2024.

1. Kriss Munsya, Even (2022)
2. Kriss Munsya, Dysfunctional Intentions (2022)

It's the final week to visit the Season of Drawing exhibition! ⌛

The exhibition features a special commission by artist Ugonna Hosten. The work chronicles a heroine's enchanted journey to initiate a relationship with her chi, a personal guiding spirit that is central to Igbo speaking people of Southeast Nigeria.

The ceramic piece photographed is entitled ‘Ebezina’ and is a dream figure Hosten understood upon waking as a personification of her own Chi. This figure also appears in two other works in the exhibition. ✨

🗓️ You can see Ugonna Hosten’s work on display as part of our Season of Drawing exhibition, open until Sunday 21 April 2024.

Image by Charlotte Graham Photography.

150 years ago, the first Impressionist exhibition opened in Paris! 🎨

In 1874, a group of 31 artists facing rejection from the art establishment decided to exhibit their works outside of the official channels. The idea originated with Claude Monet and was backed by the likes of Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley and Cézanne.

At the time, critics dismissed the exhibition as a failure and claimed that the paintings looked unfinished. Since then, however, the exhibition has come to represent the launch of the avant-gardes and the birth of Impressionism, a movement which would transform French painting in the late nineteenth century. 🖼️

Monet was a key figure in the growth of the Impressionist movement, and we are delighted to be able to explore the context of his work, his influences and legacy in our upcoming exhibition ‘National Treasures: Monet in York ‘The Water-Lily Pond’. 🪷

🔗 You can plan your visit at: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/national-treasures-monet-in-york-the-water-lily-pond/



National Treasures Monet in York: ‘The Water-Lily Pond’ is supported by local wealth management JM Finn and The Little Greene Paint Company, as the Official Paint Partner.

🗓️ Opening Friday 10 May 2024.

W.A. Ismay MBE was born 🎂

For almost 50 years, Ismay was a prominent figure in the studio pottery world, always recognisable for his uniform of overcoat, beret and the magnifying glass he used to scrutinise pots! 🔎

Ismay was the most prolific collector of post-war British studio pottery in the UK. He acquired over 3,600 pots between 1955 and 2001, using only his librarian’s wage and later his pension. A proud Yorkshireman, Ismay died in 2001 and bequeathed his collection to York. You can see many pieces from his collection currently on display in our Yorkshire Tea Ceremony exhibition. 🫖

In 2015, artist Peter Meanley presented York Art Gallery with this figure of W.A. Ismay MBE, in celebration of the launch of our Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA). ✨

1. Figure of W.A. Ismay MBE by Peter Meanley (2015)
2. Image of W.A. Ismay MBE by John Anderson

Will you be making time for creativity over the Easter break? 🖌️

We are running a range of artist-led workshops to guide and inspire you! 🎨

From workshops linked to our collections and exhibitions, to experimental sessions breaking the rules of drawing and interactive Wicked Wednesday adventures - there's something for all ages and abilities! ✨

Check out the event listings on our website to find out more at:

Events | York Art Gallery Our drawing studio at York Art Gallery is a welcoming space for people to create, learn, and share their artwork. It is a space for people of all ages and skill levels to be inspired by our Season of Drawing exhibitions and have a go at drawing! You can try sketching your surroundings, drawing from....

There are still some spaces left for tomorrow's Wicked Wednesday sessions at the gallery! ✨

Join Story Craft Theatre on an adventure! With the power of imagination, you might find yourselves swinging through a magical garden, jumping over mesmerising mountains or even swimming in a great ocean. 🌊

Find out more and book now at: https://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/whats-on/events/46448/