Huddersfield Art Gallery


The Huddersfield Art Gallery is an art gallery in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, northern England. The gallery is run by Kirklees Council who own "Figure Study II", the first painting by Francis Bacon to enter a public art gallery in the UK. It was purchased by the Contemporary Art Society in 1946 and offered to Kirklees Council in 1952, after it was rejected by Tate which, at the time, had felt Bacon not to have been an important artist. The gallery is currently closed for refurbishment and will be reopening in 2021.

The collections

The gallery holds over 700 paintings by predominantly British artists from the 19th century to the present day including works by L. S. Lowry, Ian Mckeever, Simon Burton, Robert Priseman, William Orpen, John Atkinson Grimshaw, Philip Wilson Steer, John Bratby, Frank Auerbach, David Tindle, Terry Frost, Lucien Pissarro, John Keith Vaughan, Joan Eardley, Roger Hilton, John Bellany, Chris Gollon, Graham Sutherland, Walter Richard Sickert, Roger Fry, Henry Scott Tuke, Julian Trevelyan, Ivon Hitchens and Henry Moore, as well as by many notable local artists.
In addition to the painting collection curators have developed a craft collection with a special focus on ceramics by the Yorkshire potters. There are an additional number of smaller collections of jewellery, textiles and carved wood as well as a Japanese print collection. Works from the permanent collection are featured in a series of themed exhibitions throughout the year.

Exhibitions

Huddersfield Art Gallery has hosted the New Light art prize which focuses on artists from the north of England and annually hosts the Contemporary British Painting Prize which is a national prize for painters who practice in the UK.
In 2014 the gallery became the first public venue to display The Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British painting.