Manchester Art Gallery has a collection spanning centuries of fine art, craft and design. From Pre-Raphaelite paintings and British art to contemporary work and new acquisitions, the gallery offers an interesting mix of historic and modern art in the centre of Manchester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manchester has a long connection with art and culture, and at the heart of the city is Manchester Art Gallery. Located on Mosley Street in the city centre, the gallery has been collecting art for around 200 years. Today its collections contain more than 50,000 objects covering art, craft, design and clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the things that makes Manchester Art Gallery interesting is the mixture of historic and more recent work. The collection includes outstanding Pre-Raphaelite paintings, early 20th-century British art, craft and design, as well as contemporary art. The gallery’s Victorian surroundings also provide an interesting contrast with some of the more modern work on display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pre-Raphaelites are particularly well represented, making the gallery an interesting destination for anyone fascinated by the detailed, colourful style associated with artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. But the collection doesn’t stop there. Visitors can also encounter works from different periods and artistic traditions, allowing them to see how ideas about art and design have changed over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A public art collection isn’t simply a collection of old paintings. Manchester Art Gallery continues to add new works and explore how its collection relates to contemporary life. In July 2026, for example, the gallery announced six new acquisitions by artists including Katie Tomlinson, Hetain Patel, Helen Thomas, Errol Theunissen, Brass Art and Lisa Milroy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That mixture of old and new is perhaps one of the most interesting things about the gallery. You can move from paintings created more than a century ago to contemporary work exploring very different ideas and ways of making art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manchester Art Gallery is therefore more than a place to look at paintings. Its collection provides a glimpse into changing ideas about art, design and society, while its contemporary programme continues to give visitors something new to discover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Manchester Art Gallery has a collection spanning centuries of fine art, craft and design. From Pre-Raphaelite paintings and British art to contemporary work and new acquisitions, the gallery offers an interesting mix of historic and modern art in the centre of Manchester. Manchester has a long connection with art and culture, and at the heart…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-galleries"],"yoast_head":"\n