Biography
Designed by the architects SN Cooke and EC Davies, the Ferens Art Gallery opened to the public in 1927. A modern extension was added in 1991 by Hugh Martin Partnership providing additional gallery rooms. There is a strong collection of European Old Master paintings, notably the 14th-century gold-ground panel by Sienese artist Pietro Lorenzetti.
There is a particular focus on portraiture, including works by Frans Hals, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres and Wyndham Lewis which is extended to include broader themes of the body and identity, with work by Stanley Spencer, John Coplans, Nan Goldin, Alan Curell, Torsten Lauschmann, Helen Chadwick and Gillian Wearing.