Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Royal Institution, First Autumn Exhibition, 1883

End Date: 1883

Type: Annual exhibition

Policy: 'It seems desirable, at the Opening of the First Annual Exhibition of Works of Modern Art, under the auspices of the Manchester Corporation, to explain the circumstances under which the Exhibition is held. For more than sixty years the Royal Manchester Institution carried on its work as a voluntary association of persons interested in Art, Literature and Science; and during its existence it doubtless contributed largely to foster the taste for Art in the district. Amongst the contributors in the early days of the Institution were most of the prominent artists of the last generation, the names of J. M. W. Turner, W. Muller and David Cox being conspicuous amongst the number. It was felt, however, that the Galleries and the Works of Art obtained by gift and purchase might be put to better use by being placed directly under the control of the Corporation; and by an Act of Parliament, which received the Royal Assent in 1882, effect was given to an agreement between the Governors of the Royal Manchester Institution and the Corporation of Manchester, by which the buildings and art property of the Royal Manchester Institution were transferred to the Corporation, and the management of the whole was placed under the Art Gallery Committee - a body consisting of twenty-one members, of whom fourteen are selected by the Corporation and seven are nominated by the Governors of the Royal Manchester Institution. The special Act provides for the perpetuation of the personal privileges of the Governors, and for the annual expenditure of not less than £2,000 by the Corporation, together with all profits which may be derived from exhibitions, in the purchase of Works of Art. Amongst the first results of the change are the structural alterations of the Galleries, which have been remodelled under the direction of Mr. Allison, the City Surveyor; and the improvements in the lighting by day and night. The Art Gallery Committee venture to think that they have succeeded, by the cordial assistance of Artists, in gathering together a very representative collection of the Art of the present time, which includes much new work, together with choice examples from the Royal Academy, the Grosvenor Gallery and the exhibition of the Royal Society, and the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. There are also some characteristic specimens of Continental Art' (Catalogue, 1883).

Display Arrangement: Sculpture was shown in the South Corridor.

Citing this record

'Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Royal Institution, First Autumn Exhibition, 1883', 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=msib5_1220888774, accessed 29 Mar 2023]