Bray & Slaughter, the main contractors on the project, started in earnest from 9 January and major interventions of the building’s fabric will be apparent soon.   Building the access points to the Lift will be undertaken from February to April and refurbishment of the toilets on the Ground Floor has commenced.

inside

Temporary toilets along the back wall of the Rear Hall are now use during the upgrade.  This should not affect the lecture on 28 February and the work is in anycase due to finish before Michael Clayton’s lecture on 15 March.  The latter is expected to be very popular, so it will be ticketed (but entry will still be free to members).  Members should look out for the booking form with the February Bulletin due to be delivered around 17 February and be ready to reply quickly

now empty

In the meantime, to protect them from dust, any vulnerable glass and ceramic objects have already been removed from display, and the Assyrian Reliefs protected against possible vibration.  The photo shows an emptied cabinet on the staircase leading from the French Gallery to Ceramics. The notice in the cabinet says “Contents removed in preparation for the installation of new lift.”

The entrance to the Lift Lobby on the Ground Floor will be located where the “Polar Bear” case used to be in the right-hand corridor just past the reception desk.

now empty

The planned siting of the Lift access on the Second Floor will mean opening up the existing doorway in the French Gallery. Please note that this Gallery is now closed and the paintings have been removed.  It will not reopen until the Lift project is complete, but it may be used as a “walk-though” for the public at some stage.

space for lift access

The only other Art Gallery affected by the project is Ceramics where there will be a further Lift access directly above the French Gallery in the space shown in the photograph.  This is to the right at the top of the stairs from the French Gallery to the Ceramics Gallery.

water damage to ceiling

Additional to the Lift Project, separately the opportunity is being taken to re-lamp and re-wire throughout the areas affected by the construction, including the French Gallery itself where water damage to the ceiling, extending down one of the walls, will also be repaired. Planning these works, including a complete refurbishment of the Gallery, is due to be finalised by the end of February so that all the work here can be completed, hopefully, by the end of May.

new signage

This image shows the recent infill of the architrave above the corridor, just past the Shop on the Ground Floor, directing visitors to the Cafe and Exhibition Gallery.  The ‘Bristol Tapestries’ which used to be displayed on the corridor walls have been moved temporarily to Exhibition Room 2 (formerly the Watercolour Gallery) on the second floor.  Soon, however, they will be moved again and a new exhibition will be set-up here displaying paintings and arefacts to accompany the Leonardo exhibition.

As a consequence of the Lift Project, many of the recently installed Signage and Wayfinding notices (not this one) will have to be updated and new ones created.

Clearly the impact of the Lift installation will be far-reaching, and some disruption will be inevitable for most of this year.  Check this page regularly for further updates as the Project continues.

(This update 2 February 2012).

The Friends are currently funding the purchase of two Chinese teapots. They will look great together when they are eventually put on display (this report will be updated at that time) and are wonderful examples of the type of Yixing wares that influenced English ceramic design so strongly in the 17th/18th centuries.

This early 18th century globular teapot features crisp modelling of fruiting branches and small Buddhist figures.  The metal spout is a replacement.

Each panel of this lovely hexagonal teapot (first quarter, 18th century) is pierced with pine and prunus designs, the cover surmounted with a mythical creature with a bifid tail.  Again, the spout is a metal replacement.

These two items were purchased at Auction for a total cost of £2090, funded in full by The Friends of Bristol Art Gallery.  Click on the images to enlarge them.

(This item added 18 November 2012)

Next year’s Summer Dinner will be held at the Clifton Club, 22 The Mall in Clifton Village, on Wednesday 20 June 2012 at 6.30pm for 7.00pm.

As one of Bristol’s most exclusive venues (it’s a private members’ club) it was established in 1818 to provide a place where ‘gentlemen of means and leisure could converse and convene regularly’.  Although the members still subscribe to some of those traditional values, the club is now a truly cosmopolitan and modern club for both men and women.  In recent years it has undergone a beautiful refurbishment, completed in 2008.

Further details and a booking form were enclosed with the February Bulletin.

(Updated 16 February 2012)

The visits to the Georgian House in mid-October 2011 were so successful that many members were unable to attend, so we are repeating them on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 May 2012.

The Friends have just agreed to help fund restoration of the fine Axminster carpet from the dining room of the House, and hopefully this will be re-laid by the time of our visit.

Further details and a booking form are included with the February Bulletin.

(Updated 16 February 2012)

The visits to the Georgian House in mid-October 2011 were so successful that many members were unable to attend, so we are repeating them on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 May 2012.

The Friends have just agreed to help fund the restoration of the fine Axminster carpet from the dining room of the House, and hopefully this will be re-laid by the time of our visit.

Further details and a booking form are included with the February Bulletin.

(Updated 15 February 2012)

The very popular annual Lecture/Lunch at Trinity College will take place this summer on 24 July.  The lecture will be given by Karin Walton, Curator of Applied Art and responsible also for the Museum’s historic houses. The subject of her lecture is “A Curator’s life – what do Curators actually do?”

A booking form will be included with the May Bulletin.

(Updated 2 February 2012)

The 2012 AGM will be held in the Rear Hall of the Museum at 6.00 for 6.30pm as usual, on Tuesday 3 July.  Full details in due course.

(This item added 4 November 2011)

Tonight’s lecture on Degas by Françoise Durrance, a well qualified freelance art historian and bilingual lecturer, is linked to the excursion to the Degas exhibition Degas and the ballet Picturing Movement at the Royal Academy on the following Sunday (20 November).  See entry below.

Image: The Little Dancer (part)

(This item added 9 July 2011)