Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures: the ninth (Liverpool), 1879
End Date: 1879
Type: Annual exhibition
Description: 1,356 works exhibited.
£9,059 17s. 0d. receipts from sales.
72,093 visitors (based on paid admissions).
[Note that in this exhibition works of sculpture and oil paintings were listed together. Only works that were identified as sculptures by title or medium have been added.]
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: Sculpture was displayed with oil paintings in the Upper Hall.
Organizing Institution or Venue
Exhibitors included Allan and Sons
1879
Portrait of a Gentleman (cat. no. 1342, wood carving, not for sale).
Organized by Walker Art Gallery
1879
Participants
Exhibitors included John Adams-Acton
1879
The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, MP (cat. no. 1321, marble bust, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Edwin Roscoe Mullins
1879
Revd J. Martinean, LLD (cat. no. 1322, terracotta, not for sale); Sly Puss (cat. no. 1341, £8 8s.); Wonderland (cat. no. 1343, terracotta, £8 8s.).
Exhibitors included J.M. Brydon
1879
Bust of James Henderson, Esq. (cat. no. 1324, not for sale).
Exhibitors included John Warrington Wood
1879
The Sisters of Bethany (cat. no. 1327, not for sale - presumably a sculpture but not specified in the exhibition catalogue).
Exhibitors included Mario Raggi
1879
Bust of His Eminence Cardinal Manning (cat. no. 1331, terracotta, £50); Portrait Statuette of late Admiral Rous (cat. no. 1335, £25).
Exhibitors included Henry Richard Hope-Pinker
1879
Posthumous Bust of the late Viscount Gage (cat. no. 1339, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Alfred Norbury
1879
Plaster Bust of Spohr (cat. no. 1348, not for sale).
Exhibitors included George Frederick Halse
1879
In Disgrace (cat. no. 1349, bronze, c. £4); In Favour (cat. no. 1351, bronze, c. £4).
Exhibitors included George Blackall Simonds
1879
Dionysos (cat. no. 1354, group in marble, not for sale).
Exhibitors included Frederick Thomas Callcott
1879
The Baby (cat. no. 1336, terracotta, £5 5s.).
Citing this record
'Liverpool autumn exhibition of modern pictures: the ninth (Liverpool), 1879', 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_1278415927, accessed 22 Sep 2023]
