The Walker

A hospital day for J. As the forecast looked a bit grim I travelled into nearby Liverpool, to have a look at the Walker Art Gallery. The last of its galleries have been restored and refurbished, so after a bit of a walk around this part of the city in the sunshine (the forecast wasn’t quite accurate) I had a look inside. Not too long as J messaged to say it was going to be a shorter day. So I’ll have to go again. I’d especially like to see the “Photie Man” exhibition.

The Walker has a tremendous collection, there are paintings here that are very well known. These days the Gallery does a good job of explaining the context for its collection, and that’s especially the case in the newly reopened galleries. There were large donations from wealthy Liverpool merchants, and the foundation of a lot of that wealth came from the Atlantic slave trade. The history of the paintings and the history of their acquisition are both fascinating.