A Tour of Manchester Art Gallery’s Remarkable Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Paintings

Pre-Raphaelite paintings have a way of striking you, even from a distance. They are often bejewelled with luminous colour, redolent of some beautiful dream world and indeed, many evoke the same sense of a lost past that can be found in poetry. The human figures seem almost too real, whilst the trees, grasses, leaves and flowers appear possessed of a vibrant living force.

Manchester Art Gallery has some of the very finest examples but of course, like much else in the art world, they tend to divide opinion. Gallery visitors come from far and wide to see them but there are also detractors who find the works overly sentimental.

Join volunteer guide John Ward in a quest to determine whether or not these world famous masterpieces speak as powerfully to us as they once did to our forebears.

A Tour of Manchester Art Gallery’s Remarkable Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Paintings

Pre-Raphaelite paintings have a way of striking you, even from a distance. They are often bejewelled with luminous colour, redolent of some beautiful dream world and indeed, many evoke the same sense of a lost past that can be found in poetry. The human figures seem almost too real, whilst the trees, grasses, leaves and flowers appear possessed of a vibrant living force.

Manchester Art Gallery has some of the very finest examples but of course, like much else in the art world, they tend to divide opinion. Gallery visitors come from far and wide to see them but there are also detractors who find the works overly sentimental.

Join volunteer guide John Ward in a quest to determine whether or not these world famous masterpieces speak as powerfully to us as they once did to our forebears.

Discover Manchester’s Northern Quarter through fresh eyes.

For more than forty years, the walls and shutters here have been transformed from hidden graffiti tags to bold street art, and even full‑scale advertising. Today, the neighbourhood is an open‑air gallery where every corner has a story to tell.

On this walking tour, we’ll explore the busy squares and tucked‑away backstreets that showcase world‑renowned artists such as Akse P19, Hammo and Faunagraphic. From striking photo‑real portraits to playful characters and nature‑inspired designs, you’ll see how these artworks have become part of Manchester’s cultural identity.

But this isn’t just about admiring the paint on the wall. We’ll ask questions.

What messages are hidden in the colours and layers? How do these pieces reflect our city’s social and political life? Why do some murals last while others vanish almost overnight?

Along the way, we’ll uncover projects like Outhouse and Cities of Hope, meet the spirit of initiatives such as Spray Days and Art Battle, and trace how protest, community, music and humour all leave their mark in this ever‑changing urban canvas.

Join us to see the city differently, alive with creativity, history and ideas.

Ready to walk the streets as if they were a gallery?  Book your place now.

Meet inside the entrance of Ducie Street Warehouse which has a cafe and toilets.

(Round the corner from Piccadilly Railway Station).

Discover Manchester’s Northern Quarter through fresh eyes. 

For more than forty years, the walls and shutters here have been transformed from hidden graffiti tags to bold street art, and even full‑scale advertising. Today, the neighbourhood is an open‑air gallery where every corner has a story to tell.

On this walking tour, we’ll explore the busy squares and tucked‑away backstreets that showcase world‑renowned artists such as Akse P19, Hammo and Faunagraphic. From striking photo‑real portraits to playful characters and nature‑inspired designs, you’ll see how these artworks have become part of Manchester’s cultural identity.

But this isn’t just about admiring the paint on the wall. We’ll ask questions.

What messages are hidden in the colours and layers? How do these pieces reflect our city’s social and political life? Why do some murals last while others vanish almost overnight?

Along the way, we’ll uncover projects like Outhouse and Cities of Hope, meet the spirit of initiatives such as Spray Days and Art Battle, and trace how protest, community, music and humour all leave their mark in this ever‑changing urban canvas.

Join us to see the city differently, alive with creativity, history and ideas.

Ready to walk the streets as if they were a gallery?  Book your place now.

Meet inside the entrance of Ducie Street Warehouse

(Round the corner from Piccadilly Railway Station).

Due to the first tour selling out, the Manchester Lit & Phil has secured a second date for you to join Curator, Imogen Holmes-Roe as she discusses how the exhibition rethinks Turner’s legacy by exploring his genius as both painter and a master of printmaking.

The Whitworth is pleased to present a special exhibition that looks afresh at the work of Britain’s greatest landscape artist J.M.W. Turner. The exhibition is being shown as part of a national celebration of the artist on the 250th anniversary of his birth.

For the first time in over 100 years the entire published set of Turner’s celebrated Liber Studiorum series, the Latin title can be translated to ‘Book of Studies’, has been specially conserved and is on show at the Whitworth.

Turner: In Light and Shade unveils 71 of Turner’s published prints, displayed alongside major paintings loaned from private and public collections across Europe, as well as the artists’ most celebrated watercolours from the Whitworth collection.

Join the Whitworth’s Curator (Historic Art), Imogen Holmes-Roe as she discusses how the exhibition rethinks Turner’s legacy by exploring his genius as both painter and a master of printmaking – which was vital to the development of his reputation as an artist. At a time when printmaking was regarded as secondary to painting, this collection display reveals how Turner approached the print medium with the same innovation and expressive freedom that marked his oil and watercolour paintings.

In Light and Shade offers an unprecedented opportunity to view this extraordinary series.

The Whitworth is pleased to present a special exhibition that looks afresh at the work of Britain’s greatest landscape artist J.M.W. Turner. The exhibition is being shown as part of a national celebration of the artist on the 250th anniversary of his birth.

For the first time in over 100 years the entire published set of Turner’s celebrated Liber Studiorum series, the Latin title can be translated to ‘Book of Studies’, has been specially conserved and is on show at the Whitworth.

Turner: In Light and Shade unveils 71 of Turner’s published prints, displayed alongside major paintings loaned from private and public collections across Europe, as well as the artists’ most celebrated watercolours from the Whitworth collection.

Join the Whitworth’s Curator (Historic Art), Imogen Holmes-Roe as she discusses how the exhibition rethinks Turner’s legacy by exploring his genius as both painter and a master of printmaking – which was vital to the development of his reputation as an artist. At a time when printmaking was regarded as secondary to painting, this collection display reveals how Turner approached the print medium with the same innovation and expressive freedom that marked his oil and watercolour paintings.

In Light and Shade offers an unprecedented opportunity to view this extraordinary series