|
The gallery was originally founded with the hope of bringing art to the working classes
Lauren Heath-Jones | Planet Attractions | 12 Mar 2021
Whitechapel Gallery first opened in 1901 Credit: LeHaye via Wikimedia Commons
The Whitechapel Gallery, a historic art gallery in London, UK, has celebrated a landmark 120 years today (March 12).
The gallery, which is currently closed to the public due to lockdown measures in the UK, was one of London’s first publicly-funded galleries for temporary art exhibitions. It was founded on March 12, 1901, by priest Samuel Barnett, who hoped to bring art to the working-class masses of London’s East End.
Purpose-built - with step-free access and the proportions of a church - the gallery was designed with the explicit intent to get people through the doors. Barnett hoped that by creating a church-like feel, it would provide a familiar environment that would appeal to and entice the working-class population.
“It started off as being quite paternalistic,” gallery director Iwona Blazwick told The Financial Times
Initially a very conservative institution, gallery trustee Henrietta Barnett hoped to shield the East End from the ‘kinks and kranks’ of modern art. Now the gallery is widely renowned for its contemporary and modern art exhibitions, which have included shows by artists David Hockney, Gilbert & George and David Long.
Whitechapel is also famous for being the only UK gallery to host Picasso’s famous anti-war painting Guernica, during its one and only visit to the UK in 1939, and for being the first to offer solo UK exhibitions to American abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the gallery hosted shows from artists such as Frida Kahlo, Cy Twombly, Cindy Sherman, Lucian Freud and Donald Judd.
Since 2000, the gallery has exhibited works from Cristina Iglesias, Liam Gillick, Nan Goldin, Paul McCarthy, Michael Rakowitz and Mark Wallinger.
“The gallery is a touchstone for contemporary art internationally, plays a central role in London’s cultural landscape and is pivotal to the continued growth of the world’s most contemporary art quarter,” said a gallery spokesperson.
Culture
|
|
Hole in One: How Holovis is changing the game with 360Golf
|
