Huddersfield Art Gallery was opened on the 22nd April, 1898, by Lady Gwendolen Ramsden. The building pictured was built in 1937 and opened as a library and art gallery in 1940.[3] The gallery closed in 2020 in anticipation of major redevelopments in the town centre and the creation of a Cultural Heart which will include the provision of a new art gallery.
Its permanent collection includes a Francis Bacon painting, Figure Study II,[5] the first Bacon work to enter a public art gallery in the UK.[6] It was purchased by the Contemporary Art Society and donated to Bagshaw Museum in Batley in 1952,[7] after being rejected by the Tate Gallery which, at the time, did not consider Bacon to be an important artist.[8] It was transferred to Huddersfield with the creation of Kirklees Council in 1974.[9] In 2016, it was reported that the council were looking into selling the painting which, with an estimated value of between £19.5 million and £60 million, it considered "too valuable to be exhibited locally".[7] They later conceded that the conditions of the Contemporary Art Society's donation meant that the work could not be sold.[9][10] Although frequently on loan to other institutions, a council spokesman clarified that it is otherwise on public display in the Huddersfield Art Gallery.[9]
In addition to the painting collection curators have developed a craft collection with a special focus on ceramics by the Yorkshire potters. There are an additional number of smaller collections of jewellery, textiles and carved wood as well as a Japanese print collection. Works from the permanent collection are featured in a series of themed exhibitions throughout the year.
Exhibitions
Huddersfield Art Gallery has hosted the New Light art prize which focuses on artists from the north of England[11] and annually hosts the Contemporary British Painting Prize which is a national prize for painters who practice in the UK.[12]
