By Catherine Jones
The Dinner Party, one of Liverpool's best-known pieces, has been permanently given to the Walker Art Gallery via the Cultural Gifts Scheme
The Dinner Party, by pop-artist Sam Walsh, has been donated under the Cultural Gifts Scheme which aims to encourage philanthropy to the UK’s public museums, galleries and archives.
Walsh, a contemporary of Peter Blake and David Hockney, was one of the driving forces of the Liverpool art scene in the 1960s.
The Irish artist lived in the city for almost 30 years.
The Dinner Party is one of his most significant works and is a homage to one of the Walker’s most celebrated masterpieces Isabella by pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais.
The people depicted were all from the Walsh’s life and include his neighbour, solicitor, ex-wife, partner, bank manager, fellow artists, poets, musicians and friends.
Walsh himself appears twice in the painting.
Culture minister Ed Vaizey said: “This is another wonderful donation under the Cultural Gifts Scheme, which thanks to the generosity of the donor will be returning home to the city where it was created.”
The painting has been donated by John Entwistle, a former Trustee of National Museums Liverpool.