2019 Exhibitions announced
National Museums Liverpool’s exhibitions programme for 2019
National Museums Liverpool has announced its exhibitions programme for 2019, with a special bumper year for the art galleries.
Tickets for the blockbuster Charles Rennie Mackintosh exhibition, Charles Rennie Mackintosh: making the Glasgow Style (15 March to 26 August 2019) will go on general sale from next Tuesday 23 October (10am), with a special members’ pre-sale starting from 10am today, Wednesday 17 October, when members can pre-book their free tickets (subject to availability) along with tickets for friends and family.
Tickets are priced from £9 for adults and £2 for children aged between 6 and 17 years. Children aged 5 years and under go free. There will be a number of additional concessions. For further details of prices, how to book tickets and to become a member visit: www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mackintosh
Spanning the lifetime of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928) and his contemporaries between 1890 and 1920, the exhibition will explore the movement that became known as The Glasgow Style; Glasgow being the birthplace of the only Art Nouveau ‘movement’ in the UK, with its style and popularity of design spreading all over the world.
The exhibition will present objects from Glasgow Museums and the Mitchell Library and Archives, as well as loans from private and public collections. More than 250 objects will be on display across the full spectrum of media, including stained glass, ceramics, mosaic, metalwork, furniture, stencilling, embroidery, graphics, books, interiors and architecture.
Also starting the Walker’s 2019 programme will be a showcase of Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest drawings from the Royal Collection. Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing (1 February to 6 May 2019) will mark the 500th anniversary of the death of this Renaissance master, as part of a nationwide event across 12 simultaneous exhibitions in the UK, giving the widest-ever UK audience the opportunity to see the work of this extraordinary artist.
The Lady Lever Art Gallery will be welcoming Rembrandt in Print (1 June to 15 September 2019). Organised by the Ashmolean Museum, which holds a world class collection of over 200 prints made by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669). This exhibition will present Rembrandt as an unrivalled storyteller through a selection of around 50 outstanding prints, dating from 1630 to the late 1650s. Widely hailed as the greatest painter of the Dutch Golden Age, Rembrandt was also one of the most innovative and experimental printmakers of the 17th century, and the works displayed at the Lady Lever will cover a varied selection of subjects including intense self-portraits, atmospheric landscapes, intimate family portraits, biblical stories and confronting nude studies.
Meanwhile, World Museum is marking two international ‘moments’. Astronomy Photographer of the Year (3 May to 1 September 2019) coincides with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing (20 July 1969). This special exhibition celebrates the very best in astrophotography from around the world, showcasing up to 100 images from the 2018 competition shortlist including entries from enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers from 91 countries. Images featured in the exhibition include a mesmerising mosaic of the Great Orion and the Running Man Nebula and a magical scene of an Aurora Borealis exploding over the south coast of Iceland.
During the UK/Japan Season of Culture running from Autumn 2019 to Summer 2020, World Museum will stage the first ever exhibition of Taki Katei’s work outside Japan (4 October 2019 to 13 April 2020). It draws on National Museums Liverpool’s rare archive of more than 300 exquisite preparatory drawings the artist used for teaching, for preparation of some of his major commissions, and as an aide-mémoire. A favourite of the Emperor of Japan, Taki Katei (1830 – 1901) was once the highest-paid artist in Tokyo, and his works travelled to international exhibitions around the world. This exhibition will tell the story of how this astonishing collection of ink drawings and watercolours travelled thousands of miles from an artist’s studio in Tokyo to a museum in Liverpool.
Continuing at the Museum of Liverpool is the ground-breaking Double Fantasy – John & Yoko exhibition (until 22 April 2019), which has already welcomed more than 200,000 visitors through its doors. In a world first, told in the words of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, this exhibition features objects drawn from Yoko’s own private collection, some of which have never been displayed in public before, alongside art, music and film. The exhibition explores the personal and creative chemistry of this iconic couple and their ongoing Imagine Peace campaign, and celebrates the meeting of two of the world’s most creative artists.
Sudley House will display Whistler and Pennell: Etching the City (5 July 2019 to 29 March 2020) previously on display at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, featuring 38 prints from two of the most influential and innovative etchers - James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and Joseph Pennell (1857-1926). The exhibition highlights an important period in the history of etching known as the Etching Revival. It explores how both artists championed a declining art medium, and their motivation to create a definitive technique and style.
For more detailed information on exhibitions, please see the listings below:
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/exhibitions2019
WALKER ART GALLERY
Free entry
Open daily 10am-5pm
William Brown Street, Liverpool
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker
Telephone 0151 478 4199
@walkergallery
New for 2019
Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing
1 February to 6 May 2019
Admission free
In February 2019, to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, 144 of the Renaissance master's greatest drawings in the Royal Collection will go on display in
12 simultaneous exhibitions across the UK. Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing, a nationwide event, will give the widest-ever UK audience the opportunity to see the work of this extraordinary artist. The Walker will be looking at the diversity of subjects that inspired Leonardo’s creativity across 12 drawings, from botanical and anatomical studies to the design of theatrical costumes, hairstyles and ferry-boat plans.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/leonardo500
Charles Rennie Mackintosh: making the Glasgow Style
15 March – 26 August 2019
£9 for adults / £8 for concessions / £2 for children 6 – 17 / children 0 – 5 go free
National Museums Liverpool members go free
This exhibition will span the lifetime of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928) and his contemporaries, exploring the movement that became known as The Glasgow Style. The Glasgow Style refers to the design and decorative arts centred round the work by teachers, students and graduates of the Glasgow School of Art produced between about 1890 and 1920. Glasgow was the birthplace of the only Art Nouveau ‘movement’ in the UK and its style made ripples internationally. The exhibition will present objects from Glasgow Museums and the Mitchell Library and Archives as well as loans from private and public collections. More than 250 objects will be on display across the full spectrum of media, including stained glass, ceramics, mosaic, metalwork, furniture, stencilling, embroidery, graphics, books, interiors and architecture.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mackintosh
Continuing exhibitions
Leo Fitzmaurice: Between You and Me and Everything Else
Until 17 March 2019
Admission free
As part of the Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme, Liverpool-based artist Leo Fitzmaurice has created an assembly of portraits within Room 9 at the Gallery. The artist has gathered together artworks from both the Arts Council Collection and National Museums Liverpool’s own collections. More than 30 portraits feature, by artists including Frank Auerbach, David Bomberg, Milena Dragicevic, Ken Kiff, Marie-Louise von Motesiczky and Philip Sutton. Fitzmaurice presents familiar things in ways that make the viewer question what they see and what they know about them. At first glance, Room 9 may look like many other rooms in the Gallery. However, on closer inspection visitors will notice something unusual about the placement of the portraits and the direction in which the sitters appear to be looking.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/leofitzmaurice
LADY LEVER ART GALLERY
Free entry
Open daily 10am-5pm
Port Sunlight, Wirral
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ladylever
Telephone 0151 478 4136
@leverartgallery
New for 2019
Rembrandt in Print
1 June – 15 September 2019
Admission free
The Ashmolean Museum holds a world class collection of over 200 prints made by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669). Widely hailed as the greatest painter of the Dutch Golden Age, Rembrandt was also one of the most innovative and experimental printmakers of the seventeenth century. This exhibition will present Rembrandt as an unrivalled storyteller through a selection of around 50 outstanding prints ranging from 1630 until the late 1650s. A variety of subjects will be covered: intense self-portraits, atmospheric landscapes, intimate family portraits, biblical stories and confronting nude studies. Almost drawing-like in appearance, these images were created by combining spontaneous squiggly lines with his remarkable sense for detail. Exhibition organised by the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/rembrandt
Continuing exhibitions
Quentin Blake and John Yeoman: 50 Years of Children’s Books
Until 3 March 2019
Admission free
Celebrating a unique, artistic partnership between illustrator Quentin Blake and children’s author John Yeoman, this exhibition will showcase more than 40 Quentin Blake works, including the beautiful illustrations featured in Yeoman’s magical storybooks.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/quentinblake
SUDLEY HOUSE
Free entry
Open daily 10am-5pm
Mossley Hill Road, Liverpool
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/sudley
Telephone 0151 478 4016
@sudleyhouse
New for 2019
Whistler and Pennell: Etching the City
5 July 2019 – 29 March 2020
Admission free
Whistler and Pennell: Etching the City captures the changing landscape of New York and London in the final years of the Industrial Revolution. Featuring 38 prints from two of the most influential and innovative etchers - James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and Joseph Pennell (1857-1926), the exhibition highlights an important period in the history of etching known as the Etching Revival. It explores how both artists championed a declining art medium, and their motivation to create a definitive technique and style. The artists shared an interest in the role of architecture, engineering, industry and production, but differed in their approach. Whistler’s imagery captured the individual characteristics of the city and its workers, while Pennell’s provides an impersonal and more distant perspective. The exhibition also explores the lives of both American artists and their motivations for immigrating to Britain in the second half of the 19th century.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whistlerpennell
Continuing exhibitions
Model Image: Fashion and photos from the 1950s
Until 16 June 2019
Admission free
The elegance and glamour of the 1950s is captured in this exhibition exploring the life of one of the top British models of the era, Liverpool-born June Duncan. June was born in the Liverpool suburb of Mossley Hill in 1924 and went on to model clothes for all the major couture houses in London and Paris. In the 1950s she appeared regularly in the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and Tatler. June’s modelling career was an exhilarating whirl of fashion shoots, front covers and haute couture. The exhibition encapsulates June’s rise from a child actor on stage at Liverpool's Empire and Playhouse theatres, to wartime service in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRENS) to cover girl. Her story is told through stunning prints by some of the most high-profile photographers of the decade, including John French, Eugène Vernier, Hans Wild and Noel Mayne, which capture the refined grace of the 1950s. These are highlights from a recently-acquired collection of more than 90 photographs dating from the 1930s to the 1950s.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/modelimage
WORLD MUSEUM
Free entry
Open daily 10am-5pm
William Brown Street, Liverpool
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml
Telephone 0151 478 4136
@world_museum
New for 2019
Astronomy Photographer of the Year
3 May – 1 September 2019
Admission free
The Royal Observatory Greenwich’s hugely popular Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition, celebrates the very best in astrophotography from around the world. Up to 100 images from the 2018 competition shortlist will be displayed at Liverpool’s World Museum to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing on 20 July 1969. 2018’s competition received more than 4,200 exceptional entries from enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers, taken from 91 countries spanning the globe. Shortlisted images included in the exhibition feature a mesmerising mosaic of the Great Orion and the Running Man Nebula; a magical scene of an Aurora Borealis exploding over the south coast of Iceland and a solar transit of the International Space Station between the massive sunspots AR 12674 and AR 12673.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/astronomy
Taki Katei
4 October 2019 - 13 April 2020
Admission free
Taki Katei (1830-1901) was once the highest-paid artist in Tokyo. He was a favourite of the Emperor of Japan, and his works travelled to international exhibitions around the world. But after Taki Katei’s death his delicate paintings of flowers and birds fell out of fashion and his work was slowly forgotten. In 2019 National Museums Liverpool will stage the first-ever exhibition of Taki Katei’s work outside of Japan as part of the Japan 2020 Cultural Olympiad. The exhibition draws on National Museum Liverpool’s rare archive of more than 300 exquisite preparatory drawings that Taki Katei used for teaching, for preparing some of his major commissions, and as an aide-mémoire. The exhibition not only reveals the techniques of this great artist, but it tells the story of how this astonishing collection of ink drawings and watercolours travelled thousands of miles from an artist’s studio in Tokyo to a museum in Liverpool.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/takikatei
MERSEYSIDE MARITIME MUSEUM
Free entry
Open daily 10am-5pm
Albert Dock, Liverpool
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime
Telephone 0151 478 4499
@merseymaritime
Continuing exhibitions
Lusitania: life, loss, legacy
Admission free
Situated on the first floor of the Museum, this exhibition was created to mark the centenary of the sinking of Lusitania, on 7 May 2015. As well as the story of Lusitania, the display considers the role of Liverpool’s liners in the First World War.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/lusitania
Titanic and Liverpool: the untold story
Admission free
This compelling exhibition explores Liverpool's central role in the Titanic story. Discover the real life stories of those who sailed on Titanic, in their own words. Featuring film footage, images, costumes and interactive touch screens, the optimism and tragedy of Titanic is brought to life.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/titanic
INTERNATIONAL SLAVERY MUSEUM
Free entry
Open daily 10am-5pm
Albert Dock, Liverpool
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism
Telephone 0151 478 4499
@slaverymuseum
Continuing exhibitions
Journey to Justice
Until 7 April 2019
Admission free
Journey to Justice reveals how the US civil rights movement helped to move people in the UK and the rest of the world to fight for their rights and make significant social and political change. It tells the extraordinary and moving stories of some of the less well-known women, men and children involved in US and UK struggles for freedom. The exhibition shows how social justice can be led by 'people like us' and includes interviews, artwork and zines (DIY publications via which activists can make their own news) produced by local people.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/journeytojustice
MUSEUM OF LIVERPOOL
Free entry
Open daily 10am-5pm
Pier Head, Liverpool
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol
Telephone 0151 478 4545
@museumliverpool
Continuing exhibitions
Tales from the city
Until 31 March 2019
Admission free
The opening of this powerful exhibition marked the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act with stories from Liverpool’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) community over the past five decades. The exhibition reflects how the lives and experiences of Liverpool’s LGBT+ community have changed from 1967. Individual stories are told through a mixture of objects, costume, art, photography, film and oral history interviews. The exhibition also explores the impact of national events such as Section 28, civil partnerships, marriage, age of consent equality, and equal adoption rights. The experiences of Liverpool's LGBT+ community reveal devastating cases of discrimination and prejudice but also examples of self-determination, resilience and creativity. Now, more than 50 years on from 1967 Sexual Offences Act, the exhibition offers a reflection on the significant advances that have been made, while also remembering there is still work to be done for full equality.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/talesfromthecity
Double Fantasy – John & Yoko
Until 22 April 2019
Admission free
In a world first, this ground-breaking exhibition tells John Lennon and Yoko Ono's story in their own words. The exhibition explores the personal and creative chemistry of this iconic couple and their ongoing Imagine Peace campaign. Double Fantasy - John & Yoko is a free exhibition, celebrating the meeting of two of the world’s most creative artists who expressed their deep and powerful love for one another through their art, music and film. They used their fame and influence to campaign for peace and human rights across the world, transforming not only their own lives, but art, music and activism forever. Featuring personal objects alongside art, music and film produced by both John and Yoko, the exhibition is drawn from Yoko’s own private collection, some of which has never been displayed in public before.
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/doublefantasy
Notes to Editors
About National Museums Liverpool
National Museums Liverpool comprises eight venues, including some of the most visited museums in England outside of London. Our collections are among the most important and varied in Europe and contain everything from Impressionist paintings and rare beetles to a lifejacket from the Titanic. We attract more than 3.3 million visitors every year. Our venues are the Museum of Liverpool, World Museum, the Walker Art Gallery, Merseyside Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Seized! (UK Border Force National Museum), Sudley House and the Lady Lever Art Gallery.