Graves Gallery

A nice art gallery in Sheffield which focuses on pre-​20^th century paintings mostly.
Close to the Millennium Gallery, which is more of a museum, there is the Graves Art Gallery, located — somewhat confusingly — above the city’s central library. It’s on of the third floor of a historic, Grade II listed building. Perhaps, and this is just a suggestion, they should get their own place.
It’s a smallish art gallery by the standards of British cities — after all, Sheffield is the 5^th biggest in the country. While there are few major masterpieces (one is a pre-​Raphaelite painting by Edward Burne-​Jones), it’s a likeable «regional collection», so to speak. The focus is on traditional paintings from the 18^th and 19^th centuries, plus a changing temporary exhibit in Gallery I. Most of the permanently exhibited works are of British origin, though there are some minor international paintings as well. Nothing earth-​shaking, but nothing boring either.
Long story short, it’s a good place to kill an hour or two when in Sheffield.
Photography, due to copyright restrictions, is allowed only in the 19^th century and before galleries. Which is great for those of us who care.

I went to the Graves gallery to see the Andy Warhol exhibition last year. It was called «Andy Warhol: Late Self-​Portraits» and featured some of Andy’s most iconic work in the spacious, clean building that sits atop a huge library. The exhibition offered a unique insight into the ‘real’ Andy Warhol from the people who knew him best — a series of audio recordings of Warhol’s family and close friends talking about the artist’s childhood, relationships and approach to his work.
The area was small but it sufficed, a nice little gift shop at the end where I bought a couple of postcards to send to my American friends.
I loved the presentation of the work — it was very Warhol and complimented the minimalistic nature of his work. I took my grandma to see it because she is like me — constantly thirsty for knowledge and art — and she loved it as much as I did, sitting at the circular table which housed the tape recorders and listening for ages to the recollections.
The only bad thing I could say was that it contained neither the famous soup can image, nor the Marilyn Monroe piece. I would have ended this review by recommending you to go see the exhibition, but unfortunately it ended on the 1^st of December last year! I would still urge you to visit the gallery, it is one of the most pleasant I have ever visited (and I have been to a LOT!).