A folk art gallery in Newcastle city center has closed one of its exhibits due to extreme weather conditions.
The Laing Art Gallery on New Bridge Street has confirmed that one of its gallery spaces suffered a leak following heavy rains on Tuesday, October 5.
As a result, the gallery closed its Portrait of an Artist exhibition to visitors “until further notice”.
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Fortunately, the Laing confirmed that none of the artwork in the exhibition was damaged by rainwater and said work was underway to repair the gallery space in the hope to reopen next week. The rest of the gallery is open normally.
A spokesperson for the Laing Art Gallery said: “We have closed the Portrait of an Artist exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery due to a leak in one of the gallery spaces following the extreme rains. yesterday (October 5).
“None of the works have been affected and repairs are underway so that we can reopen the exhibition soon.”
The Portrait of an Artist Affected by the Leak exhibition is from art dealer Liss Llewellyn and features more than 85 oil paintings, drawings and prints.
Artists from the late 19th century to the 1940s are represented, including Evelyn Dunbar, Albert de Belleroche, Winifred Knights, Alan Sorrell and William Strang.
Heavy rains on Tuesday caused widespread disruption in the Northeast region, with many road and public transport users crippled by the floods.
The Met Office had issued a “yellow weather warning” for hours of gale and rain in the northeast earlier this week.
Persistent heavy rains and gales hit the area, causing long delays and cancellations on national rail services and the Tyne and Wear metro.
The Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service also confirmed it had received a high number of 999 calls due to heavy rains on Tuesday as people called to report minor flooding and clogged drains.
The Laing Art Gallery was founded in 1901 and features historic, modern and contemporary art.
The funds to build the gallery were provided by Alexander Laing, a Newcastle businessman who had made his money from his liquor store and beer bottling business.
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