Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures: the first (Free Public Library and Museum, Liverpool), 1871
Start Date: 2 September 1871
End Date: 18 November 1871
Type: Annual exhibition
Description: £6395 2s. 6d. taken in receipts for sales of works of art. Attended by 22,725 visitors.
Policy: The exhibition was started in 1871 because 'The Library, Museum and Education Committee consider[ed] it desirable in the interests of Art [...]' (Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures, 1871, p. 2). Its success was immediate. The receipts not only defrayed all costs but also '[...] supplied a handsome surplus to be devoted to the purposes of Art' (19th Annual Report, 1871, p. 5). As a result the autumn exhibition became an annual event.
The instructions issued to exhibitors were as follows:
'All works of Art intended for Exhibition (which must not have been previously exhibited in Liverpool) must be sent addressed to the Curator, Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, Liverpool[...] Arrangements have been made to meet the convenience of Metropolitan Artists for the transmission of their Works, at their own cost and risk, through Mr. James Bourlet, 17 Nassau Street, Middlesex Hospital, London.
A note [...] must be sent by post, and addressed to the Curator at Liverpool, giving the prices [...] and describing the works ads they are meant to be inserted in the Catalogue (quotations and narratives will be subject to the approval of the Acting Committee). At the back of each [work] must be written in full the name and Address of the Artist, the Title of the Picture and Number (if there are more than one)[...] The strict attention of Artists to these regulations is earnestly requested, so as to ensure accuracy in the catalogue. The absence of the Price List frequently interferes with the sale of [works of art].
[...] A Commission of Five per Cent (upon the catalogue prices) will be charged upon all works sold whilst in the possession of the Committee, whether by the Artist or the Committee.
The Committee are not responsible for, nor do they encourage any offers for Works not made through the Local Secretary; and they will be happy to receive any intimations from contributing Artists that none but Catalogue Prices would be acceptable.
All Works contributed by Members or Associates of the Royal Academy that may be sold at this Exhibition, are purchased subject to the condition that the Artist be allowed to exhibit such Work at the ensuing Exhibition of the Academy, the purchase money to be paid at the close of the Local Exhibition.
The utmost care will be taken of all Works of Art sent for the Exhibition; but the Committee will not be responsible for any damage or injury, whether in transit or whilst under their control, caused by fire or otherwise' (Instructions from 'Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures', 1871, pp. 3-4).
Display Arrangement: 887 oil paintings and watercolours exhibited; 18 sculptures and 3 carvings.
Participants
Exhibitors included George Edwin Ewing
1871
Prince Albert Victor of Wales (cat. no. 888, not for sale); Prince Adolphus of Teek (cat. no. 889, not for sale); The Late Mark Lemon, Esq., Editor of 'Punch' (cat. no. 894, marble, not for sale); A Covenanter (cat. no. 895, marble, £262 10s.); A Serious Story (cat. no. 896, model for a marble group, not for sale); His Grace the Duke of Sutherland (cat. no. 897, not for sale); The Late John Gibson, RA, Executed from sittings taken in Rome, 1859 (cat. no. 898, not for sale).
Exhibitors included George Gammon Adams
1871
Massacre of the Innocents (cat. no. 891, marble, £472 10s.); St John the Baptist (cat. no. 893, marble, £367 10s.).
Exhibitors included Emanuel Edward Geflowski
1871
Early Sorrows (cat. no. 892, marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Walter Wallace
1871
The late Sir James Y. Simpson, Bart, MD, DCL (cat. no. 898, marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included John Alexander Paterson MacBride
1871
Peter Atkin, Esq. (cat. no. 899, model for marble, not for sale); J. A. Picton, Esq., FSA (cat. no. 901, marble, not for sale); A Tenneriffe Girl, one of the Aboriginal Guanchès (cat. no. 902, not for sale); The Late George Thomson, Esq. (cat. no. 905, marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Giovanni Fontana
1871
Bust of a Lady (cat. no. 900, marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Joseph Rogerson
1871
Bust of a Lady (cat. no. 900, marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Thomas Wills
1871
Part of Frame in Lime Tree (cat. no. 906, Italian wood (?), £40); Figure in Relief (cat. no. 907, boxwood, £10).
Exhibitors included Andrew Allan
1871
The late Wm Rathbone, Esq. (cat. no. 908, carving, £50 - in collaboration with H. Clotworthy).
Exhibitors included Hugh Clotworthy
1871
The late Wm Rathbone, Esq. (cat. no. 908, carving, £50 - in collaboration with A. Allan).
Citing this record
'Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures: the first (Free Public Library and Museum, Liverpool), 1871', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/event.php?id=msib4_1278321749, accessed 26 Mar 2023]
