Displays
Paintings from our collections are displayed around the gallery in different themed areas.
The South Gallery
Our South Gallery, pictured above, re-opened in April, 2008, following nine months of refurbishment work. Its Courage and Sacrifice displays concentrate on our strong collections of early religious paintings and 17th Century Dutch works, as before, but with a different selection of paintings.
Pictured right is a detail from The Flagellation of St Barbara by the Master of Vienna Schottestift.
Ceramics in the South Gallery
The new-look South Gallery also includes a new exhibition of ceramics called Round the World in 80 Pots - a display of international 20th century studio ceramics. Featured potters include Pablo Picasso, from Spain, Fiddig El Nigoumi, from Sudan, and Paul Young, from the UK. A selection of British pots are pictured, right.
Places
For centuries artists have both recorded the landscape and explored their own responses to it. The pictures here show how places and the way painters represent them have changed. Romantic artists of the 19th century created a pastoral vision of man in harmony with nature. Twentieth century artists are also represented in this gallery – two highlights are LS Lowry's Clifford's Tower, 1953, and Paul Nash's Winter Sea 1925 – 37.
Pictured right is The Harvest Cradle - Noontide, 1859 by John Linnell, a British artist working in the Romantic tradition.
People
We are surrounded by people in our everyday lives at home, at work and at play. For artists, people and the way they look is one of the most important means of communication. Artists use portraits to reveal character, suggest social standing and provide clues to the sitters' working lives. The men, women and children on display in this gallery tell us about the likeness, identity and "employment" of people over 400 years.
Pictured right is a detail from Captain John Foote by Joshua Reynolds.
Stories
The pictures in this gallery all have a story to tell. Many of them were painted in the 19th century when artists used images to promote respectability, hard work and family life. Whether telling of misfortune or celebrating good times, every picture here tells a story...
Pictured right is A Scene from "The Careless Husband", 1738 by Philip Mercier. The Careless Husband was a popular play by Colley Cibber.
Modern Approaches
The works of art on display in this gallery, pictured right, were made in Britain during the 20th century. As society rapidly changed in the 20th century, artists responded by working in new styles and choosing new subjects. They often rejected the values and conventions of traditional art.