Visit to #Leeds and #LeedsArtGallery

Looking for somewhere to go, as an Anniversary treat and not being sure of the weather, we settled on Leeds. It's a long time since we visited Leeds but it always brings back memories as we both studied there. 
Having settled into the hotel. we decided to have a wander around town. It was interesting to see the changes and compare it with Manchester. We found at least three, new large shopping centres and the pedestrian areas seemed so much wider than those in Manchester. We always feel that Market Street is too narrow and  can be a little claustrophobic, especially when it is  crowded.
I had heard about the links between the city and the nearby Sculpture park and it was impressive to see several sculptures around the area.

No visit would be complete without going to the art gallery. On entering the building, the sculptures continue with a couple of pieces by Anthony Gormley. Passing these you enter the room containing the historical paintings. Although not always my favourite style, you can't help but be impressed by the sheer skill involved in producing these. There was also work by one of my favourite artists Atkinson Grimshaw, whose nocturnal paintings really capture the atmosphere of the scenes.

Two of the other rooms contained a range of modern and traditional sculptures, sometimes next to each other, which seemed to work well. There was even one of Damien Hurst's pickled rams.

The upstairs gallery housed some of the recent acquisitions. When viewing these, I do wonder how some of them will stand the test of time and why these have been chosen from the thousands of artworks available.

One of the most notable displays, was the group of portraits at the top of the stairs. As I enjoy doing portraits myself, it was interesting to see all of the different styles that artists over the years have used. 

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An interesting couple of hours but unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to go in the Henry Moore gallery, as it was closing time. Something for our next visit.

On a lighter note, we decided to have a celebration meal. The menu for our hotel looked really nice so we went back to have a shower and change our clothes. Arriving at the restaurant, we sat down to order, only to be told they were only doing Pizzas at the moment as they were changing the menu. Not liking cheese, we decided to try somewhere else.  The next suitable place was a carvery and you can't go wrong with that! We sat down and I went to order only to be told there was no meat left and it was still early evening. 
By now we were getting hungry, so it was a matter of finding somewhere quickly. Fortunately, we came across an Italian restaurant that didn't have cheese in every dish, and had an enjoyable meal.

​A nice end to an enjoyable day.

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