The Walker Art Gallery will present a major new exhibition in February 2016, combining more than 120 paintings by leading Pre-Raphaelite artists.

National Museums Liverpool, together with leading Pre-Raphaelite expert – Christopher Newall, have produced an exhibition showcasing how Northern art rivalled London in Victorian England with paintings on loan from institutions and private collections across the UK.

Key pieces of the National Museums Liverpool’s collection will be combined with works that have previously never been on public display before with the exhibition featuring new research into Pre-Raphaelite painters and collectors in Northern England.

Sandra Penketh, director of art galleries at National Museums Liverpool, says: “It’s so exciting to see this wonderful exhibition come to fruition.

“For many years, we’ve planned to tell the story of the Pre-Raphaelites through a Liverpool lens and, with the help of Christopher Newall’s expertise, Pre-Raphaelites: Beauty and Rebellion achieves this.

The exhibition will examine the relationship between artists like Ford Madox Brown and Dante Gabriel Rossetti together with their Liverpool contemporaries, while also considering the patrons who commissioned art works, many of whom had Liverpool connections.

Sandra adds: “As part of the exhibition, we look forward to welcoming Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces from across the UK to the Walker, which houses a world-renowned collection of its own.

“The Pre-Raphaelite movement is an incredibly appealing one and we’re sure that our visitors will love the exhibition.”

Tickets are available to purchase from today (8 December) with under 18s free, and the exhibition running from 12 February until 5 June 2016.

(Picture: In the Grass, about 1864-5, Arthur Hughes © Museums Sheffield)

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