Two exhibitions at the Victoria Gallery & Museum are due to close this month with the first, Travel in Style, closing this Saturday. If you haven’t had chance to view the exhibition yet, then this is your last chance. The exhibition features 14 posters that were used in Cunard’s sales offices throughout the world to promote its shipping services. Complementing the posters on display are examples of printed advertising material and ephemera used by Cunard to promote its services during the era.
The second exhibition due to close soon, Abstract Thinking: Fanchon Fröhlich & Her Contemporaries, closes on Saturday 30th March. Fanchon Fröhlich was a remarkable artist and intellectual. She enjoyed success in the 1960s, when her prints were exhibited in Paris alongside works by Joan Miró and purchased by the Walker Art Gallery. However, from the 1980s onwards, Fanchon’s work began to be overlooked. This exhibition seeks to re-establish Fanchon’s position in the artworld by displaying her paintings and prints alongside those of artists from the University’s art collection whose work is in a similar abstract style.
Other exhibitions currently on display at the VGM include Play of Light – A display of darkness and illumination, which features J.M.W. Turner’s The Eruption of the Soufriere Mountains in the Island of St Vincent. This display shows a variety of ways in which artists used the play of light against darkness to add drama and mood.
British Science Week Family Day – Saturday, 16 March
To celebrate British Science Week, the Victoria Gallery & Museum are going to experiment with everything from ancient sea creatures to robots and computers; explore themes of sustainability, climate, microbiology and animals, plus science-themed puzzles and games all hosted by real scientists, doctors, researchers and experts from the Universities of Liverpool and Salford.
Entry is free. For more information please click here.
Permanent Displays
As well as these temporary exhibitions, the VGM also has the following permanent displays:
- Decorative Arts in Gallery 1 – includes a display of silverware ranging from a doctor’s blood-letting cup from the late 1600s to Modernist tableware from the 1970s made specially for the University. The large cases in the centre of the room are themed around the following subjects: the influence of Islamic artistry on European ceramics, which led to the development of Maiolica and lusterware; the way the traditional British ‘Willow Pattern’ evolved from an earlier passion for fine blue and white Chinese porcelain; the history of Liverpool’s ceramics industry from the 1700s onwards; and the links between decorative items created for European tastes and the transatlantic slave trade.
- Sculpture in Gallery 2 – a newly displayed gallery dedicated to the University’s prestigious sculpture collection ranging from the classical tradition to the contemporary. The display features some visitor favourites such as Elisabeth Frink’s Gogglehead and Frederic Leighton’s The Sluggard alongside the recently acquired Noir Rhythm by Halima Cassell.
- The Victoria Building in Gallery 3 – display exploring aspects of the University of Liverpool’s early years when it was known as University College Liverpool.
- Audubon display in Gallery 8 – John James Audubon was a wildlife artist and naturalist who travelled America identifying and drawing the native birds and mammals. He is most famous for his illustrated book, The Birds of America. To raise funds for his book, Audubon visited Liverpool in 1826, staying with the Rathbone family and exhibiting at the Liverpool Royal Institution. As a legacy of his visit, the VGM displays its collection of original paintings and drawings by Audubon in this dedicated gallery.
Further Information
For more information on the VG&M please visit: https://vgm.liverpool.ac.uk/. You can also follow the VG&M on X and Facebook.