A Different View: The Changing Landscapes of York.
There is no denying that York has a rich history: the city walls, the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey and the cobbled streets can all be taken in on a short stroll through town. While we all know what York looks like today, A Different View: The Changing Landscapes of York, is an artistic documentation of the historical development of our city. On display in the Little Gallery at York Art Gallery, this temporary exhibition is a must see for anyone with a fascination in local history or land-planning. As the majority of works are by unknown local artists there is little interest to come from an artistic point of view. However, taken from an historical angle, the purpose of the exhibition becomes clear.
The display features a wide variation of styles, from simple charcoal sketches to intricately detailed lithographs, spanning a considerable timeframe. Thanks to an anonymous donation making the conservation and mounting process possible, a unity of style has been generated through careful presentation of the works in matching frames.
John Storey’s minutely detailed Victorian lithographs proved to be the highlight of the exhibition. A Bird’s Eye View of the City of York (after Nathaniel Whittock), 1858, shows the geography of nineteenth-century York from a viewpoint south of the River Ouse, at a time when the Railway Station was within the city walls and the Ouse Bridge the only traffic route through the city. A second lithograph illustrates the Gardens of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society; a society formed in 1822 with the aim of promoting the study of the natural sciences and antiquities.
Contrasting with these meticulous lithographs are works that portray York’s social history. William Richardson’s St. Crux’s Tower and Pavement from the Shambles, 1881, is a lively evocation of the Shambles at a time when they were workaday; the many butchers and bakers now replaced largely by tourist shops. Painting a darker picture is Francis Bedford’s Water Lane, 1853, a foreboding watercolour documenting the unforgiving and oppressive atmosphere of the lost Water Lanes of York. Built in a style similar to the Shambles, with jetted buildings overhanging the streets, the Water Lanes were the most crime and poverty ridden streets of nineteenth-century York. In 1852 the Corporation of York made the decision to demolish the Lanes, paving the way for Clifford Street; a new home for municipal buildings and the Magistrates Court.
In addition to documenting the York of the past, the exhibition illustrates plans for York that never came to fruition. Edward Brown’s Sketch for a Covered Market of Glass and Iron in Parliament Street, 1853, depicts a very different market from the one we know today. There are also more recent depictions of the city including Dennis Flanders’ St Helen’s Square York, 1942: a WWII image of the city closer to how it appears today.
York’s topography has never been static, and this exhibition portrays the developments of the previous two centuries in a compact and interesting manner.
A Different View: The Changing Landscapes of York is being exhibited at the Little Gallery in York Art Gallery from 31 January – 19 July 2009. Entry is free to all.
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