Works make happy return to spa town as acquisitions go on show

An exhibition showcasing the fine art collection of the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate includes the recently acquired paintings by the 19th century painter.

His well-known work Many Happy Returns of the Day, is on show at the gallery along with other works which have been recently acquired, including The Portrait of Annie Gambart and The Private View at the Royal Academy, 1881.

Harrogate possesses one of the most important pictures by JF Herring, the British horse painter, which for years hung in obscurity in the Royal Hall. Barnet Fair measures 6ft by 3ft and six inches and contains no fewer than 40 horses and over 30 figures.

Silver Moonlight by John Atkinson Grimshaw is one of the Mercer Art Gallery's best loved paintings, which is due to features in a major show planned next year before touring to the Guildhall Art Gallery in London.

To mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Mercer Art Gallery, there is also a display of paintings by Sidney Mercer, the Harrogate artist after whom the spa town's venue is named, and other members of his artistic family.