On William Brown Street, one of Liverpool’s most architecturally distinguished thoroughfares, the Walker Art Gallery holds one of the largest art collections in England outside London. The neo-Classical building occupies a prominent position alongside the William Brown Library, forming part of a civic quarter that took shape through Liverpool’s ambitions in the mid to late nineteenth century. The gallery has been part of the National Museums Liverpool group since achieving national status in 1986.
Origins and Early Collection
The story of the collection begins in 1819, when the Liverpool Royal Institution acquired 37 paintings from William Roscoe, a figure whose banking business had failed. His friends and associates ensured the collection was not broken up, and those works became the seed of what would grow into a major public holding. By 1843 the Royal Institution had moved its pictures into a purpose-built gallery. Liverpool Town Council joined the picture in 1851 by purchasing the Liverpool Academy’s diploma collection, then added further works from the Liverpool Society for the Fine Arts, founded in 1858. Between 1871 and 1910 the Library, Museum and Arts Committee bought around 150 works for the permanent collection, among them W. F. Yeames’ And when did you last see your father? and Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Dante’s Dream.
The Building and Its Benefactor
The gallery was designed by local architects Cornelius Sherlock and H. H. Vale and opened on 6 September 1877. Its name commemorates Sir Andrew Barclay Walker (1824-1893), a wealthy brewer born in Ayrshire who expanded the family business into England, served as a mayor of Liverpool and lived in Gateacre. The opening ceremony was performed by Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby. Extensions followed in 1884 and 1933, the latter reopening with an exhibition that included works by Picasso and Gauguin. During the Second World War the building was taken over by the Ministry of Food, the collection was dispersed for safekeeping and the gallery did not reopen until 1951. A major refurbishment closed the gallery again before it reopened in 2002. The building carries a Grade II* listed status, reflecting the architectural significance of the structure itself.