William Etty Exhibition

York Art Gallery currently has a major exhibition of works by William Etty RA (1787-1849) called Art and Controversy. I stopped by for a look last week. One room contained many of his nudes which led to him being described as tittilating. Etty himself maintained that "To the pure of heart all things are pure". Other observers noted that "the nether limbs of one of the figures are displayed with more voluptousness than decorum" Depends on your point of view I guess.

William Etty

This statue of York’s most famous artist stands outside York Art Gallery. William Etty was born in York on March 10^th 1787, and died here in October 1849.  Although he painted landscapes and portraits he was chiefly known as a painter of nudes, which led to him being criticised in the press for indecency.  He was financially successful in his lifetime, and was made an associate of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1824, defeating John Constable by 18 votes to five.

His statue looks towards Bootham Bar (the three tiny figures on the left sit on top of the bar) which he helped to save from demolition, and also towards York Minster which he described as “so lovely to mine eyes, so dear to my heart, captivating to my imagination”

There is a major exhibition of his work on at York Art Gallery at present, more information at

http://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/Page/ViewSpecialExhibition.aspx?CollectionId=46