Lady Lever Art Gallery is regarded as one of the finest art galleries in Europe - a stunning Beaux-Arts building in the model village of Port Sunlight, housing world-class Pre-Raphaelite paintings, one of the finest Wedgwood collections in the world and spectacular 18th-century furniture and Chinese ceramics. 

Lady Lever Art Gallery | Art Galleries in Liverpool

• Opening Hours:
  • Tuesday to Sunday | 10am–5pm
  • Café: Tuesday to Sunday | 10am–3.45pm
• Location: Lady Lever Art Gallery, Lower Road, Port Sunlight Village, Wirral, CH62 5EQ
• Suitable for: All ages - assistance dogs only permitted inside. 
• Booking: Free admission - no booking required
• Website:https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/lady-lever-art-gallery
• Contact:0151 478 4136 | ladylever@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Lady Lever Art Gallery is one of the great art galleries of the United Kingdom, set in the extraordinary planned model village of Port Sunlight on the Wirral Peninsula. The gallery was founded by industrialist and philanthropist William Hesketh Lever - later Lord Leverhulme - who began collecting art in the late 19th century as part of his advertising for the phenomenally successful Sunlight Soap brand, manufactured just a short walk from the gallery. As his wealth and confidence grew, so did his collections, and he commissioned architects William and Segar Owen to design a magnificent Beaux-Arts gallery to house them. The Lady Lever opened in 1922, formally inaugurated by Princess Beatrice, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, and named in memory of Lever's beloved wife Elizabeth, who had died in 1913.

The Collections

The collections are exceptional in their quality and variety. The gallery is internationally renowned for its Pre-Raphaelite paintings - works by Millais, Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Holman Hunt and Lord Leighton are displayed alongside British paintings and sculpture of the 18th and 19th centuries, including works by Turner, Constable, Gainsborough and Reynolds. The Wedgwood collection is arguably the finest in the world, including pieces originally owned by the naturalist Charles Darwin -  Josiah Wedgwood's grandson. There are also outstanding collections of Chinese ceramics from the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, ancient Greek vases and Roman sculpture and a superb gathering of English 18th-century furniture. Five period rooms recreate typical interiors from large Victorian houses, giving the gallery an atmosphere of remarkable richness and depth.

Port Sunlight

Lady Lever is an ideal starting point for a broader visit to Port Sunlight, Lever's visionary planned village of Arts and Crafts cottages built to house his factory workers. The village itself is a Grade II listed conservation area and one of the finest examples of a model industrial settlement in the UK. Port Sunlight Museum is directly opposite the gallery. The Lady Lever café on the lower ground floor serves hot food, sandwiches, cakes and drinks. The gallery is fully accessible via ramps and a lift between floors, with wheelchairs available to loan on request.

Photo credit: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/lady-lever-art-gallery