Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery has reopened following a multi-million pound redevelopment.
New spaces for lectures, expert conservation works, touring exhibitions and collection displays are among the improvements visitors can look forward to.
A new state-of-the-art extension will link the historic buildings, including the grade two listed 1911 display, which has benefitted from complete restoration and improvements to facilities and access, all of which will ensure the Glynn Vivian is fit for the 21st Century.
A new collection store for artworks has also been added, as well as a fully accessible entrance that means more people than ever will enjoy greatly improved access to the artworks.
The redevelopment and restoration project has been funded by the Arts Council of Wales, Swansea Council, the Welsh Government, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Cadw. Funding was also secured through the Building Enhancement Programme grant scheme run by Swansea Council and funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Venue Type:
Gallery
A broad spectrum of visual arts from the original bequest of Richard Glynn Vivian (1835-1910) which includes work by Old Masters as well as an international collection of porcelain and Swansea china. The 20th Century is also well represented with modern painting and sculpture by Hepworth, Nicholson, Nash alongside Welsh artists such as Ceri Richards, Gwen John and Augustus John.
Collection details
Archives, Costume and Textiles, Decorative and Applied Art, Fine Art
Journeys and Visions: Twentieth Century Artist Series
- 15 October 2016 — 31 December 2017 *on now
Room 8
Art and poetry are often made in solitude. In the 20th century, artists' studios were at the heart of their work, a special place where they could share their visions and ideas with the world.
This collection display includes work by David Jones, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Gwen John, Mark Gertler, Brenda Chamberlain, Ceri Richards and Pablo Picasso's, The Artist's Studio, generously on loan from Tate.
The beautifully written texts include contributions from artists, historians, writers and poets, including Anne Price-Owen, Nicholas Thornton, Sharon Morris, Sarah McDougall, Wynne Thomas, Mel & Rhiannon Gooding and Glenys Cour.
Suitable for
- Any age
Languages
- Welsh
Admission
Free
Website
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/article/29496/Journeys-and-Visions-Twentieth-Century-Artist-Series
Journeys between Art & Life: Richard Glynn Vivian (1835-1910)
- 15 October 2016 — 31 December 2017 *on now
Rooms 4 - 7
Richard Glynn Vivian was the original founder of our Gallery in Swansea. Born at Singleton Abbey, Glynn was the fourth son of the wealthy Vivian family, owners of the most successful copper smelting plant in the world in the 19th century.
Glynn left his entire art collection for 'the enjoyment of the people of Swansea' in 1908, and the Gallery opened in 1911, a year after his death.
Glynn Vivian collected throughout his life, travelling extensively around the world by steamboat and by train, acquiring objects and art works from every country that he visited. Journeys between Art & Life presents his collection and celebrates his life for the first time in over 100 years.
The Richard Glynn Vivian displays are accompanied by a new digital multimedia guide.
Download for free, available on itunes and Google play
The project is generously supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Suitable for
- Any age
Languages
- Welsh
Admission
Free
Website
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/article/29494/Journeys-between-Art--Life-Richard-Glynn-Vivian-1835-1910
Josef Herman (1911-2000): Conflict and Sanctuary
- 1 May — 28 August 2017 *on now
Local-global culture in the world today is bristling with conflict and war from which people seek to escape, often finding shelter in places like Swansea, a designated city of sanctuary.
The same was true for Josef Herman in the 1940s, when he fled from Poland during the onset of WWII, settling in Ystradgynlais in 1944, where he was warmly welcomed and stayed for more than ten years.
Having studied art in Warsaw, Herman began to paint in his new surroundings, a close-knit coal-mining community, where he loved to capture the spirit of miners on their way home from work.
In 1951, Herman was commissioned to paint a mural for the ‘Festival of Britain’. He made a large work entitled Miners, which is on display, the scale gently reinforcing Herman’s deep respect for their dignity. He was awarded an OBE in 1981.
Suitable for
- Any age
Languages
- Welsh
Admission
Free
Website
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/article/33908/Josef-Herman-1911-2000-Conflict-and-Sanctuary
Elizabeth Price Curates: IN A DREAM YOU SAW A WAY TO SURVIVE AND YOU WERE FULL OF JOY
- 13 May — 28 August 2017 *on now
An exhibition presented by Turner Prize-winner Elizabeth Price, the latest in a series of Hayward Touring exhibitions curated by artists.
It features works by over forty artists including Becky Beasley, Guy Bourdin, Henry Fuseli, Richard Hamilton, The Lumiére Brothers with Loie Fuller, Henry Moore, Paul Neagu, Bridget Riley, Jo Spence and Francesca Woodman.
The exhibition is designed to create an immersive experience for the viewer, in which works are connected associatively, with ‘the slippery, fugitive logic of a dream’.
Price has staged the exhibition as ‘an austere melodrama’ exploring the psychological and formal power of the horizontal, in a vast repertoire of images depicting the reclining or recumbent body in varying states of weariness, stupor, reverie, grief, death, erotic transport and languor.
The exhibition includes sculptures, drawings, photographs, films and videos, arranged in four loosely threaded sections: Sleeping, Working, Mourning and Dancing.
A Hayward Touring Exhibition from the Southbank Centre London
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
Free
Website
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
Alexandra Road
Swansea
Glamorgan
SA1 5DZ
Wales
Website
www.swansea.gov.uk/glynnvivian/
glynn.vivian.gallery@swansea.gov.uk
Telephone
01792 516900
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