Mind the etching

When I was a student in Manchester 40 years ago the Whitworth Art Gallery was a nearby place to go and sit, away from demands and expectations and deadlines. Last weekend it reopened after major building works and refurbishment and today I went to see the transformation.

Cleverly positioned windows make the trees in the park outside part of the new building, and inside some radical decisions have been taken. These etchings were bulldog-clipped to wires stretched across the room at adult eye-height. They are very vulnerable to damage by anyone who doesn't duck, but they could not be more immediate.

The displays of the portrait and watercolour collections have done away with labels. As visitors walk up to pictures there is at first a slight uncertainty, then people just look. Afterwards, most pick up the information sheet which reveals which are by Blake, which by Turner and which by less famous names but by then the engagement with the image has already happened. Fascinating.