Fresh perspective on top artist hit by controversy over nudes

WORK is underway to check the paintings and sketches which will be on display for the biggest exhibition in half a century about one of Britain’s most significant yet controversial artists.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Mar 2011, 10:08 BST

The life and works of William Etty, York’s most famous artist, will be showcased during the exhibition at the city’s art gallery.

Curators at York Art Gallery are taking works out of storage and checking their condition to ensure that they are ready for the show’s launch on June 24.

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Dr Sarah Burnage, who is one of the curators, has researched the exhibition over the last two years.

She said: “Etty is without doubt one of the most significant artists of his generation. This exhibition aims to drag Etty’s art from the doldrums of art historical obscurity and offer a fresh opportunity to look at the works of this remarkable artist.”

The exhibition will explore Etty’s equivocal status from stalwart of the Royal Academy to being exiled from the artistic elite because of what was seen as a “perverse” passion for the voluptuousness of the female nude.

It will include more than 100 works by Etty, who was born 224 years ago on Thursday, including paintings and sketches from York Art Gallery’s own collection and loans from across the country, including the Tate, the Royal Academy and Manchester Art Gallery.

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