By Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey, to Museum Spotlight Europe
Housing one of the largest art collections outside of London, the Walker Art Gallery stands among impressive Georgian public buildings along William Brown Street in Liverpool’s Cultural Quarter. Surrounded by the Central Library, the World Museum, and St George’s Hall, with Dale Street leading straight down to the iconic Royal Liver Building, a walk along here is a treat for architecture and history lovers.
The Walker Art Gallery, designed by local architects Cornelius Sherlock and H. H. Vale, opened in September 1877. The gallery was named after Andrew Barclay Walker (1824-1893), a prominent Liverpool brewer and former mayor of Liverpool. Barclay was not necessarily an art connoisseur, but rather partial to large public buildings and thus donated a large chunk of the funds used to build the gallery.
This year, the Walker Art Gallery is part of a national celebration, titled National Treasures, celebrating the 200th birthday of London’s National Gallery. Throughout the year, the National Gallery lends out a masterpiece to major galleries around the country. This ensures that some 35 million people, more than 50 percent of the population of the UK, will be within an hour’s journey of a National Gallery masterpiece.
The Walker Art Gallery managed to land a superb scoop, by bringing a Velázquez masterpiece to Liverpool.
Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) was born in Seville, Spain, and at age 11 years old, began an apprenticeship at Francisco Pacheco del Río’s studio, at the time Seville’s most prominent painter. A year after finishing his apprenticeship, aged 19, he married Pacheco’s daughter, Juana. They remained married until both their deaths in quick succession from fever in August 1660.
After his apprenticeship and wedding, Velázquez soon set up his own studio and began his career painting religious scenes. His breakthrough though came in 1623, when, through his famous father-in-law’s connections, he was asked to paint a portrait of new King Philip IV. Evidently, the king liked what he saw, and Velázquez was appointed royal court painter, and moved the family to Madrid. Here, he continued his studies, especially looking at the Italian painters, and met artists such as Rubens.
Velázquez stayed at court, where he painted his probably most famous painting, Las Meninas in 1656. Depicting the young Princess, the Infanta Margarita Teresa of Spain, there are also plenty of other intriguing characters in the painting, including the King and Queen, as well as Velázquez himself at work. Allowing the viewer this private insight into the royal household also showcases Velázquez’ other role at court, that of Gentleman of the Bedchamber, meaning basically, that he was the closest companion of the king.
However, at the Walker Art Gallery, it is not Las Meninas that is on show, but instead another sensation: The Toilet of Venus (The Rokeby Venus), painted somewhere between 1647 and 1651. The Rokeby Venus earned her nickname from Rokeby Park, a country house in County Durham, just over 100 miles north of Liverpool, where the painting hung for much of the nineteenth century. This nude painting of the Goddess of Love is the only remaining nude painted by Velázquez.
Like with so many of Velázquez’ paintings, there is much to see, and the longer you gaze at it, the more you find. The art gallery conveniently placed a long bench in front of the painting, allowing you to sit and take it all in.
Venus is reclining on her crumpled satin bed sheets, and admiring herself in a mirror held by Cupid, the God of Love, and her son. Her body and hair, from behind, have been exquisitely painted in detail. Her face in the mirror is somewhat blurred, along with many of Cupid’s features, allowing the viewer to focus on Venus’ rather pretty backside.
There are some quite iconic and unexpected paintings curated to highlight and enrich Velazquez’ Venus, and all are by women or non-binary artists. There is, for example, Scottish artist Ethel Walker’s The Spanish Gesture (c. 1934), depicting a more modern woman posing in a slightly suggestive manner, with her gaze meeting that of the viewer, and the title maybe a nod toward Velázquez?
Another subtle compliment to the Venus painting is the little Puck (1856) by American artist Harriet Hosmer, depicting Puck from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the spitting image of Cupid. Even more aptly, A Laugh with the Rokeby Venus (1991) is an abstract etching by Maggi Hambling. It is a colorful response to the Venus just steps away, and obviously conceived with her in mind, but had the two pieces of art ever met before? Most likely not.
Many of the art works reflect on gender, on sexual orientation, race, and the perception of beauty, which is continuously changing throughout the centuries.
There are the chronograph prints by non-binary South African artist Zanele Muholi, titled Miss Lesbian I and VII (Amsterdam), showing the artists photographed in various poses and outfits, showcasing their unique beauty, and perception of identity, looking straight at the viewer, provoking a thought process.
It would have been a similar reaction when Velázquez’ Venus went first on display in the National Gallery in 1906. And despite all the great art around, this is one of my favourite displays within the exhibition, a newspaper clipping of the cover of The Sphere society magazine, of grand ladies standing before the naked Venus in the gallery, all decked out in crinolines, hats, scarves, gloves with barely a sliver of skin on show. The difference in the perception of beauty, aesthetics, and acceptance, could not be starker. And it coincided with progress tyring to be made where women and their treatment were concerned.
A notice explains that the exhibition of the painting made it a target for the Suffragettes when Mary Richardson attacked the painting in 1914.
She explained: “I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the government destroying Mrs Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history.”
Whatever the perception of beauty, mystery, or social norms, art plays an important role in opening discussions and paving the way toward acceptance, tolerance, and better communication. National Treasures: Velázquez in Liverpool aims to do just that.
The Walker Art Gallery cleverly succeeds in bringing art to the people, by placing this exhibition close to the middle of the museum. Visitors must pass through the various exhibition halls, filled with incredible art, because of its centrality rather than Velázquez’s popularity. Climbing up the grand staircase to the first floor of the building, you get sidetracked by rooms showing art from the last few centuries, hung in grand, purpose-built galleries, all before finding yourself in the presence of Velázquez’ Venus, making a visit a real treat.
Congratulations to London’s National Gallery on its 200th birthday, and congratulations on sharing masterpieces from its incredible collection with galleries around the country. The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool is always worth a visit, but having this exquisite addition, if temporarily, makes every visit a true privilege.
National Treasures at Walker Art Gallery will be open until 26 August 2024.
Written June 2024
Cover image Diego Velázquez, 1599-1660, The Toilet of Venus (‘The Rokeby Venus’), 1647-51. Presented by the Art Fund, 1906 © The National Gallery, London
Leave a Reply