Cotmania. Vol. XII. 1937

{[Observer] newspaper press-cutting}
Observer / 3.37

A CITY'S NEGLECTED ART GALLERY.

PRIVATE DONORS TO THE RESCUE.

By Our Own Correspondent.

LEEDS, Saturday.
Among the Cinderellas of municipal institutions is the Leeds Art Gallery; the Corporation contributes nothing for the purchase of works of art. And yet, like most Cinderellas, it has managed to do pretty well for itself. The present exhibition of paintings, drawings, sculpture, and pottery, which has been acquired for the Gallery in one year - 1936 - is example. It was officially opened yesterday afternoon.

It is largely the result of the generosity of private donors, interested societies, and the "Leeds Art Collections Fund." This Fund, which was founded in 1913, three years ago had fewer than fifty members. Now it has 130 members, each contributing a guinea a year for the enrichment of the Gallery.

Among the year's acquisitions are a number of old masters; a small, but perfect, Gainsborough, "In Suffolk," which was bought from a frame shop for £30 - a tenth of its market value; two exquisite De Wints, the oil, "Chelsea Old Bridge," and a watercolour, "The Drinking Place"; Cotman's "The Overgrown Well," a watercolour not in the least typical of him, and one that could be more aptly described as a tinted drawing; a fine oil painting, "The Tiber", by Richard Wilson; a valuable record of old Leeds by the nineteenth century artist, Joseph Rhodes; two oils by Schwanfelder; and a Constable drawing; and a remarkable watercolour by Francis Towne.

A collection of curious basket-work pottery made in Leeds during the Napoleonic Wars, several sketches by Phil May and many examples of modern works are among the acquisitions.