Discover rich art collections in and around Liverpool, from the holdings of the Walker Art Gallery to Sir Antony Gormley’s coastal sculptures
Explore the outstanding collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings and decorative arts at the Lady Lever Art Gallery
Visit Knowsley Hall, historical seat of the Earls of Derby
“I would recommend this company. I have travelled with them several times and you always feel like you’re in safe hands”
- ACE customer on the 2024 Art Collections of Liverpool tour
Throughout the centuries, Liverpool has benefitted from substantial artistic patronage and in recent years has undergone a cultural renaissance, basking in its success as European Capital of Culture. This tour explores the city’s history and rich holdings of art with visits to a number of important sites and collections in and around Liverpool.
“The tour was brilliantly organised. The logistics worked perfectly. The content was excellent”
– ACE customer on the 2024 Art Collections of Liverpool tour
The Walker Art Gallery, known as the National Gallery of the North, opened in 1877 and contains a magnificent collection of Old Master and Pre-Raphaelite works, which we will explore in depth on a guided visit. We will also visit the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, which was originally a gift from the first Viscount Leverhulme in 1922 to his soap factory employees. This museum contains a magnificent abundance of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, as well as a collection of eighteenth century English furniture and decorative Wedgwood. By contrast, Antony Gormley's striking installation of 100 cast-iron figures standing on Crosby beach will introduce modern and contemporary art to the tour.
We will explore Liverpool's history through houses including the Tudor manor Speke Hall, with its decorative half-timbered facade and elaborate interiors of eighteenth century portraiture and Gothic Revival furniture. Sudley House also presents a rich collection of Victorian furnishings alongside wonderful Pre-Raphaelite paintings including works by John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt. Both properties reflect the wealth gained from the transatlantic slave trade and a subject that the sites set out to deal with transparently and sensitively, offering insights into the city’s tumultuous history over the past 400 years.
A highlight of the tour is a visit to one of Merseyside’s hidden treasures: the stately home of Knowsley Hall. A historical seat of the Earls of Derby, the house is not frequently open to the public and boasts ornate Jacobean, Baroque and Victorian interiors.
We will stay at the four-star Crowne Plaza Liverpool City Centre, perfectly located beside the iconic Liver Building on the city’s waterfront.
Christopher Bourne
Christopher developed his early interest in 19th century art and architecture into specialist knowledge of William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, the Arts & Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau and Art Deco.
This tour will be led by Christopher Bourne, BA, who is an expert in 19th and 20th century art and architecture, and has been leading art and architectural history tours in the UK and Belgium for over 20 years. He read History and French at the University of Manchester, and then lived and worked in Brussels for 15 years and developed specialist knowledge of William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, the Arts & Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Christopher is a member of the Victorian Society, the William Morris Society, the Twentieth Century Society and the British, French and Belgian Art Deco Societies.
4
£1395
LVPL-26
