Liverpool Panorama 1907 !
Aug 31st, 2007 by admin
Curators Ian Murphy & Alan Scarth with the 100 year old painting
The Liver Building looks a bit narrow to me.
LIVERPOOL PANORAMA 1907
New acquisition. On display to the public from Monday September 3 2007
A stunning aerial view oil painting showing the Liverpool waterfront at the height of the city’s prosperity 100 years ago has been acquired by Merseyside Maritime Museum.
Modern Liverpool 1907 by Walter Richards shows existing buildings and some that were only planned when the painting was done. It captures the bustling atmosphere of the port when it was the Second City of the British Empire, celebrating its 700th anniversary.
A Cunard liner which could be either the Mauretania or her ill-fated sister Lusitania is moored at the Prince’s Stage while smaller ships and ferries can be seen nearby.
The pace-setting Liver Building is depicted although it was not completed until 1911. Other buildings unfinished when the painting was done include the Anglican Cathedral – shown with twin towers as originally planned.
Docks which have long gone include the George’s Dock on the site of the Cunard Building and the Manchester Dock where the new Museum of Liverpool is being built.
Tony Tibbles, director of Merseyside Maritime Museum, says: “This remarkable panorama is an important addition to our collection of Liverpool waterfront views dating from 1680 to the 1960s.
“Here ships, streets and buildings are painted in painstaking detail. The artist has caught the smoky atmosphere of Edwardian Liverpool with its thousands of chimneys.
“This painting gives a fascinating insight into the city at the height of its powers. It is so realistic you can almost hear the ships’ hooters and the cries of the seagulls.”
There are many small details including: a group of women carrying parasols and wearing elaborate hats stand next to a yellow Rolls Royce, trams come to and fro at the Pier Head, the Overhead Railway stretches along dockland, Lime Street and Exchange Stations are the city’s main termini, the domed Customs House faces Albert Dock and the White Star Line office still has its original clock.
Modern Liverpool 1907, which measures about 6 ft by 2 ft, was last on public show during the Autumn Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in 1907. For many years the painting was in the board room of a long-established city centre car sales business.
It later went into a private collection from which it has been acquired.
Liverpool-based Walter Richards exhibited regularly at the Walker Autumn Exhibitions during the early part of the 20th century.
Colour lithographs based on the painting are believed to have been distributed by the Liverpool Daily Post in 1907.
Modern Liverpool 1907 will be on display in the Art & The Sea gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum from 3 September 2007.