The
renowned contemporary artist David Hockney was born in Bradford (West
Yorkshire) in 1937. In the suburbs of Bradford, there is an art gallery,
Cartwright Hall, which Hockney used to visit in his youth. He said of this
place: “I used to love going to Cartwright Hall as a kid, it was the only place
in Bradford I could see real paintings.” He used to visit it as a schoolboy and
young student during the 1940s and ‘50s. In July 2017, the establishment opened
a new gallery dedicated to Hockney’s works. It was to see this that we set off
by bus (a ten minute ride) from Bradford to Lister Park in which the Hall is
located. What we found exceeded our expectations.
The
building of Cartwright Hall (as a purpose-built art gallery) was financed by
Samuel Cunliffe Lister (1815-1906), the son of a Bradford textile mill owner.
Lister became wealthy through the development of new and improved textile mill
technology. The house was named after Edmund Cartwright (1743-1823), an
inventor of various textile processing machines including one for wool combing,
which contributed greatly to Lister’s financial success. Modestly, Lister named
the Hall after the inventor rather than himself.
Lister
Park is extensive. It includes a fantastic feature, The Mughal Garden. If it
had not been for the miserable grey sky and the absence of the Taj Mahal, with
a little bit of imagination one might mistakenly believe that this garden was a
replica of the water features that the Mughals delighted in creating in what
became (in 1947) India and Pakistan. Opened in 2001, this garden, designed in
conformity with Mughal gardening convention, reflects the cultural affinities
of Bradford’s large South Asian community. This exotic-looking place, set
within a conventional British municipal park, is in harmony with the
multicultural range of exhibits within the Gallery.
The
neo-classical Cartwright Hall was designed by the architects JW Simpson and EJ
Milner Allen, both from London. Its interior is spacious, not in the least bit
stuffy or airless (as for example is the National Gallery in Edinburgh).
Stained-glass by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
We
began by looking at some of the works that Hockney might have examined during
his youthful visits. These include paintings by well-known artists such as:
Romney, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Vasari, Reni, and many of the Pre-Raphaelites.
Mingling with these, there are paintings by some of Hockney’s predecessors from
Bradford. One of these was Richard Eurich (1903-1992), the son of Dr Frederick
William Eurich (1867-1945). Dr Eurich, who arrived in Bradford from Chemnitz
(in Germany) aged seven, pioneered a method of cleaning wool so that it became
free of the deadly anthrax spores that had taken the lives of many wool workers
in Bradford. His son Richard studied at Bradford School for Arts and Crafts,
where Hockney also studied later.
Sir
William Rothenstein (1872-1945) attended Bradford Grammar School, where both
Richard Eurich and, later, David Hockney were pupils. He studied art at the
Slade School in London. He became a war artist in WW1. At least one of his war
paintings was on display. Rothenstein was a son of Moritz Rothenstein, one of
several Jewish entrepreneurs who came from Germany to Bradford in the mid-19th
century. These entrepreneurs played important roles in promoting the city’s
textile industry. William’s painting “Carrying the Law” has a particularly
Jewish theme. In the 1930s, William, by
then in London, hosted the Indian Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, who
dedicated his collection of poems “Gitanjali” to him.
By William Rothenstein
This
brings me to something that I really liked about the Gallery. The paintings
(and stained-glass) by European artists, both well-known and not so famous, are
hung side-by-side with works by artists with South Asian heritage. This is done
so successfully that one does not feel that there is any cultural clashing
between them. It made me think how wonderful it would be if people of different
origins could coexist so harmoniously.
By Sylvat Aziz
The
South Asian artists, to mention but a few, include Jamini Roy (whose pictures
we did not see on display during our visit), Salima Hashmi, Arpana Kaur, Sylvat
Aziz, and Gurminder Sikand. In addition to these paintings, we saw one Indian
film poster on display. Just opposite
the main entrance on the ground floor, there is a reflective sculpture by Anish
Kapoor.
By Anish Kapoor
The
new Hockney Gallery is itself a masterpiece of gallery curation. It contains
some of Hockney’s earliest works done in the 1950s. These works, somewhat more
conventional than his later creations, show him as a highly skilled draughtsman
and artist. They portray his home town beautifully. The gallery also contains
some of Hockney’s more current work, including a series of paintings done
during one of his visits to his native Yorkshire. There is also one of his
famous swimming pool pictures. The gallery features a ‘recreation’ of one of
Hockney’s studios. This display includes a couple of the artist’s sketch books
and pads. I was particularly intrigued
by two publications on display, which were illustrated by Hockney: one was a
Bradford telephone directory, and the other a guide book to Bradford.
David Hockney: Self-portrait (1954)
Our
visit to the Cartwright Gallery was enjoyable, and left me thinking that even
if one saw nothing else in Yorkshire, this place is a ‘must’.
The
town of Saltaire is a short bus ride from Lister Park, and another mecca for
lovers of Hockney’s art. Before 1851, this place did not exist. It was built by
a benevolent industrialist Sir Titus Salt (1803-1876) as a model village for
the workers in his textile factory, Salts Mill, which neighbours it. The
place’s name derives from Sir Titus’s surname and the River Aire, which runs
close to the mill. The mill is separated from it by the Leeds and Liverpool
Canal. Saltaire is a well-preserved ensemble of Victorian buildings. It has been
designated a ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’.
Salts Mill painted by David Hockney
Hockney
lovers might focus only on the enormous Salts Mill, but this is a mistake
because it would mean missing the fascinating little town, an industrial
forerunner of ‘idyllic arcadian’ garden suburbs and cities, such as those in north-west
London, Letchworth, and Welwyn. It is
also an antecedent of garden cities designed to house factory workers such as:
the Bata village at East Tilbury; Zlin in the Czech Republic; and Zelenograd
(i.e. ‘green city’) near Moscow in Russia.
Victoria
Street leads down towards the railway, the mill, the canal, and the river. The
upper section is lined with attractive stone buildings on one side. On the
other side, there is a rectangular green space, Alexandra Square, surrounded by
more buildings, alms-houses. The former ‘Sir Titus Salts Hospital’ (dated 1868)
stands where Victoria and Saltaire Roads cross each other.
Further
down the hill, we reach the Salt Building, which is marked as ‘schools’ on an
1889 map. It was a ‘factory school’. Mill owners were obliged by laws (passed after
1833) to provide their child-workers with education. Now a part of Shipley
College, it still serves an educational purpose.
Opposite
this architecturally whimsical building, there is a larger one set back from
the road. With two storeys of windows topped with circular arches and a
grandiose central doorway surmounted by a tower, this is Victoria Hall. This
was completed in 1871 for Sir Titus to the designs of Lockwood and Mawson.
Originally, it was an educational institute, but now its grand hall and other
rooms are also used for special occasions such as weddings.
The
Salts Mill stands almost at the bottom of Victoria Street. Ignore this for the
moment, and enter Albert Terrace. But, before doing so, you should take a look
at the Saltaire United Reform Church, which stands in its own grounds close to
the canal. This interesting Italianate
building with a circular tower mounted on a circle of Corinthian pillars was
built for Sir Titus in 1859, designed by Lockwood and Mawson.
Albert
Terrace runs along the lower ends of several steep streets where the mill
employees lived in houses of different sizes according to their inhabitant’s
ranking in the firm’s hierarchy. The streets are separated by the backyards of
the buildings on them, and between them the narrow back alleyways, which are
now crowded with ‘wheelie-bins’ used for placing domestic refuse.
Some
of the buildings on these streets are taller than their neighbours. These
housed lower-paid workers. Those houses between them, which have small front
gardens, were homes to foremen and supervisors. Senior members of the firm had
larger houses with bigger front gardens.
On
Titus Street, parallel to Albert Terrace but at a higher altitude, there are
small terraced dwellings without front gardens whose front doors open straight
out onto the pavement. These residences were the homes of the lowest paid
workers and their families. Although different classes of mill employees were
allotted different kinds of houses, all of them from the humblest to the
highest lived together in close proximity.
It is interesting that the founders of Hampstead Garden Suburb in North
London, where I grew up, tried to achieve the same social mixing. I do not
believe that it was ever achieved there.
The
school on Albert Road, now a primary school, has been present since 1893 if not
before. Near the south end of Albert Road at its meeting with Saltaire Road,
there is a stone building whose two sets of enormous doors are surmounted with
triangular pediments bearing weather-worn coats of arms. Now a restaurant, this
was formerly a tramway depot.
The
Salts Mill, the former textile factory, is now home to a huge exhibition of
works by David Hockney. This is arranged on three floors of the building in
what were once huge halls where William Blake’s ‘dark satanic mills’ churned
out the materials that made Bradford prosperous. Actually, this particular mill
seems to have been quite well-lit.
On
the lowest floor and the one above it, the walls are hung with works by
Hockney, mostly prints, but, also some paintings. Much of the floorspace in the
ground floor gallery is filled with tables containing merchandise for sale,
including, appropriately, artists’ materials. On the second floor, there is a
vast bookshop, also lined with works by Hockney.
The
uppermost floor is a huge exhibition space without merchandise. Its walls were
lined with Hockney’s pictures. They can be seen at their very best in this
spacious hall supported by cast-iron pillars. This gallery leads to a café,
where ‘light bites’ and drinks are available.
Beyond
the café, there is a permanent display of objects relating to the history of
Salt Mill. These include items such as: old factory equipment; examples of
textiles produced; a dental chair from the factory’s own dental clinic; and a
small fire-engine. On one wall there was an old notice informing workers what
to do if fire broke out. This was printed in English, Italian, and Polish. The
factory closed in 1986, long before Poland joined the European Union and the
recent influx of working people from Poland. The existence of the Polish
instructions suggests that even in the 1980s Bradford had a significant Polish
population. According to an article published on a BBC website (in September
2014): “In the 1940s it was immigrants from Poland who came to Bradford. They
viewed themselves as political émigrés so it was important to maintain a
national identity, traditional ideas, values and customs, all of which were
being suppressed in their homeland which was under Nazi rule.”
Some
decorative porcelain in the museum bears the crest of the Salts family. It
includes an alpaca, whose wool, combined with other animal’s fleeces, was an
important contribution to the prosperity of Sir Titus’s family. Near this display of porcelain, there is a
cleverly devised portrait of Sir Titus made using fabric from which pieces have
been removed selectively to produce the image.
We
did not eat at the café, but at Salts Diner on the floor with the
gallery/bookshop. The Diner’s menu cards and napkins are designed by David Hockney.
The diner’s walls are lined with the artist’s works. We ordered two dishes: a
smoked chicken with mango salad, and steak with chips and Béarnaise Sauce. We
washed these down with a lovely beer specially created for the Saltaire Diner.
Without hesitation, I can say that this was the best quality food that we have
ever eaten in a café or restaurant attached to a museum or gallery.
Napkin with a drawing by David Hockney
Although
there is no shortage of works by Hockney at the Salts Mill, I much preferred
the smaller but exquisitely curated gallery of his art at nearby Cartwright
Hall. However, a Hockney aficionado will be missing a great experience by not
making the trip ‘up north’ to see the Hockney exhibits just outside Bradford.
READ AND ENJOY BOOKS BY
ADAM YAMEY
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