Walker Art Gallery room guide

Room thirteen

The improvisation of the 1960s was replaced by an altogether slicker approach to painting in the 1970s. The influence and humour of Pop art can still be seen in some of the work. Paintings of this period have a bold sense of style and design. The subsequent success of conceptual art, representing ideas rather than reality, then eclipsed painting for a while.

During the 1980s a new generation of younger artists emerged. They reacted against conceptual art, prompting a renewed interest in contemporary painting. Their work was characterised by a return to more ‘traditional’, figurative imagery and the expressive use of paint. This came at the end of two decades in which abstraction and the exploration of unconventional materials and methods had dominated British art.

Room highlights include:

• 'Still life: Autumn fashion', Patrick Caulfield
• 'Blotter', Peter Doig
• 'Landscape', Adrian Wiszniewski
• 'Louis XV Rigaud', Stephen Farthing

Room displays change regularly due to loans and conservation work. If you intend to visit the Walker to see a particular painting, please telephone 0151 207 0001 beforehand to check the painting is on display.

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