Now Then: Peek into the Dales

The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery
Parkinson Building
Woodhouse Lane
University of Leeds
Leeds  LS2 9JT

Open Mondays, 1pm-5pm; Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-5pm.

Free admission.

Now Then… is a colloquial term used by the people of Yorkshire. Often used as a greeting, this phrase also captures the aim of the exhibition: bringing the past into the present.

This exhibition showcases the work of Marie Hartley (1905-2006), a nationally recognised artist, author, photographer and social historian. Her woodcut prints, drawings and photographs adorn the many publications that she wrote, in order to preserve an era of fading traditions for future generations to come.

Born into a family of wool-merchants in Morley, Hartley attended Leeds College of Art in 1927. She then devoted 75 years to recording the impact of industrialisation on the Yorkshire Dales.

Hartley created a unique body of work; some of which was gifted to the University of Leeds in 1999. Students and academics now use the collection for research and learning. Now Then: Peek into the Dales demonstrates how Hartley’s efforts play an important role in the education of our current society by drawing upon the events of the past.

Curated by a group of students, currently studying MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies at the University of Leeds, Now Then: Peek into the Dales features a selection of books authored by Hartley alongside artworks from the University’s Art Collection.

See here The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery for more information.

Image: Marie Hartley and Joan Ingilby. Marie standing by (?painting) the big picture of Askrigg (December 1984), © Marie Hartley Estate Image © University of Leeds.