Anders Hanson

It didn’t seem that long since I last went to Sheffield’s Graves Art Gallery, but when I went today I was amazed to see that it had changed completely. For those who don’t know it, the Graves Art Gallery is essentially Sheffield’s main art gallery and takes the name of JG Graves, the mail-order pioneer whose philanthropy gave the city its Central Library, Graves Art Gallery (which are both in the same building), Graves Park and a number of other institutions around the city.

The Graves Art Gallery has now been completely refurbished and renovated, but more crucially the paintings have been rehung, with it now showing paintings as a progression from the 16th century to the present day as you pass from one gallery to another. It also now also tells you a lot more about the important features of art through history, and so is a lot more educational as well as being a pleasant place to visit. Space is now also given over to some important, albeit lesser known, Sheffield painters, such as Derrick Greaves.

Although the gallery now includes some paintings that haven’t been on display for some time, I was pleased to see that some of my favourite paintings are still on show:
The Execution of Marshal Ney by Jean-Léon Gérôme
Mount Etna from Taormina by John Brett
Nemours, Seine et Marne by Henri Le Sidaner
Ypres after the bombardment by Christopher Nevinson
Helter Skelter by Stanley Spencer
The Hermit by Patrick Caulfield

At the moment there is also an excellent exhibition called ‘Hidden Narratives‘ which includes the impressive Backwoods by Sophie Lascelles, which is a film projected on to the wall using an old fashioned projector, but through using paper cut-outs it takes on a clever 3D effect. Well worth seeing.