Exploring the Collection was an exhibition made to showcase the work of three local artists – Geoffrey Key, Harold Riley and LS Lowry – alongside works by other 20th century British artists from our collection. It was displayed in the Langworthy Gallery in May 2022-April 2023. This online exhibition highlights key works from this display, resenting the artists’ connection to the collection, whilst also reflecting the small but strong collection of 20th century British art held at Salford Museum & Art Gallery.

Geoffrey Key (b.1941) is a prolific artist and there are many works in the collection by him, mostly dating back to the 1960s and 70s and the earlier part of his career. To accompany our selection, he chose several works by artists he has admired over the years, many of them his contemporaries and friends.

Harold Riley (b.1934) is also well represented in the collection, with a wide range of work dating from the 1950s. Included alongside his work are a small number of paintings the artist purchased over the years to support the Museum collection.

The largest collection of work by LS Lowry (1887 – 1976) is held by the City of Salford. It was acquired by what is now Salford Museum & Art Gallery and cared for at the Museum until it was transferred to The Lowry in 2000. We are delighted that a small selection of works was returned to their original home for this exhibition. They are displayed alongside works by local artists that were donated by Lowry.

Together these works provide an opportunity to explore our 20th century British art collection, highlighting the works of some familiar and less well-known artists.

Geoffrey Key

Geoffrey Key was born in 1941 in Manchester. He attended Manchester High School of Art from 1954, then the Manchester Regional College of Art in 1958. Here he studied under several artist tutors, including painter Harry Rutherford. He has been based in Salford for many years.

He developed his style of painting in the mid-1960s through a series of paintings and drawings of a specific area of the Derbyshire landscape, Whiteley Nab (near Glossop). He considered this a critical time as it was to shape his work in the future. Throughout the following decades his figures have become prominent and other recurrent themes – landscapes such as the Nab, horses, still-lifes – have been established and explored. He created a series called Isolated Heads, painting a series of 30 heads while self-isolating in his home between March and June 2020.

Key’s work has been collected by many public and private galleries, and Salford Museum & Art Gallery holds a significant collection of works, mainly from the 1960s and 1970s. The Museum actively collected representative examples of his work during this period. Many works were purchased from the artist, often following an exhibition, and he also donated a large amount.

Since 1966 he has had several exhibitions at Salford Museum & Art Gallery and Monks Hall Museum, Eccles, including one in 1976 and a retrospective in 1990.

Geoffrey Key visited the Museum and chose some of his favourite works from the collection to include in this exhibition. These are artists who he has admired over the years – including tutors and friends – some who are well-known today and others who Key feels deserve greater recognition. Here are a selection of these works:

Harold Riley

Harold Riley was born in Salford in 1934. He attended Salford Grammar School and in 1951 won a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art. Riley later went on to study in Florence, Italy and Spain before returning to Salford. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the university of Salford.

From a young age Riley developed a friendship with LS Lowry and together they worked on subjects relating to Manchester life. One of the main focuses of his work was to document the city and people of Salford through paintings, drawings and photographs. Alongside this portrayal of ordinary working lives, Riley developed his reputation as a portraitist of the rich and famous. He has painted popes, American presidents and royalty.

Harold Riley’s works can be found in public and private collections around the world. Over the years Salford Museum & Art Gallery has developed a collection of his work by purchase and through donations by the artist.

From 1957 onwards Riley often exhibited at Salford Museum & Art Gallery, as well as at other local venues in Swinton and Eccles (Monks Hall). These exhibitions included drawings and paintings of popular subjects such as portraits and football, as well as photographs and drawings depicting life in Salford.

Over the years Riley has also purchased work by other artists for the collection. Here are a selection of these works:

LS Lowry

LS Lowry was born in 1887 in Manchester. He studied part-time at the Municipal College of Art from 1905-1915 under Adolphe Valette and later attended classes at Salford School of Art. In 1909 he moved to Pendlebury and lived there for 40 years. He then moved to Mottram in 1948 where he stayed until his death in 1976.

Lowry is known for his paintings and drawings of the industrial landscape of the North West. Over the years his work shifted from industrial scenes to focus more on figures and close-up studies.

In 1936 Salford Museum & Art Gallery acquired their first Lowry work A Street Scene: St Simon’s Church 1928. The Museum built on the collection through purchases, commissions and gifts from the artist and by the 1950s the Museum had a significant body of work by the artist. In 1958 a dedicated Lowry Gallery was established within the Museum. The collection was added to on his death through bequests and a large purchase from the artist’s estate. In 2000 The Lowry took responsibility for the LS Lowry Collection of the City of Salford and the works were transferred there.

“Lowry was a painter of sincerity, a collector of taste, a man who shunned crowds and pseudo-intellectuals, relishing the quiet and clean air of his Mottram home. He was a unique painter who captured for posterity, through humour and compassion, a grim period in Northern history.”- Geoffrey Key, 1987

Over the years Lowry presented several works to the Museum’s collection, some were local artists he was supporting, other artists he knew and admired. Here are a selection of these works:

Salford’s Art Collection

Salford Museum & Art Gallery has over 2,000 oil paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints in its collection. The artwork ranges mainly from the 19th century to a small but strong 20th century British collection and includes many works by local artists.

The Museum, then known as the Royal Museum and Public Library, first opened in 1850. Unlike many similar institutions it did not inherit an existing collection but began collecting from scratch. Its first artwork – a portrait of Manchester horologist Peter Clare by Joseph William Allen – arrived in the same year (currently on display in the Victorian Gallery). From there paintings and sculptures were rapidly acquired by purchase and gift.

The small but significant collection of British Modern Art has been built up through purchases and donations. Artists such as Vanessa Bell, David Bomberg, Prunella Clough, Ivon Hitchens and Walter Sickert are represented in the collection. Artworks have been acquired through the Contemporary Art Society, from local exhibitions such as the Spring Exhibitions of the Manchester Academy and directly from artists. Over the years support for purchases has also come from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund and The Friends of Salford Museum’s Association.

In the 1930s and 40s a local art dealer called Lucy Wertheim donated many contemporary artworks by young modern artists. In 1947 the War Artists Advisory Committee donated works produced by official war artists including two paintings by William Roberts. When the Museum of Mining in Buile Hill Park closed the mining art was retained by Salford. The collection contains many significant artists of the genre including Roger Hampson, Theodore Major and Josef Herman.