Hidden treasures at Port Sunlight's Lady Lever Art Gallery

Jun 25 2008 by Sue McCann, Birkenhead News

LADY Lever Art Gallery reveals hidden treasures at an exquisite exhibition of British watercolours and drawings, including work by JMW Turner, John Constable, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, David Cox and Edward Burne-Jones.

It runs at the Port Sunlight gallery from June 28 to November 9.

The exhibition of 35 images spans more than 200 years, revealing the flourishing of the British watercolour school in the 18th century and its development into the early 20th century.

Lord Leverhulme began buying art in the late 1880s to use as advertising for his product Sunlight Soap. From this modest beginning, ‘Masterpiece Watercolours and Drawings’ traces his career as a significant collector of British art.

The first section of the exhibition looks at the range and high quality of British watercolours and drawings that Lever acquired.

The second section explores Lever’s relationship with the collector, art dealer, artist and one–time surgeon James Orrock (1829-1913). Lever was a huge admirer of Orrock and on three occasions purchased his entire house collection including furniture, paintings, watercolours and drawings.

An intriguing display of some of the unknown copyists of David Cox also explores the possibility that the dealer Orrock, himself a prolific artist, may have been involved in forging works that he sold to Lever as authentic Cox material.

The final section highlights acquisitions made for the gallery’s collection after Lever died. Trustees of the Lady Lever Art Gallery obtained the bulk of this work in the 1940s and 1950s, mainly through the Fine Art Society.