The Venue

Tom’s is a unique art gallery. Unique in that it’s actually a busy city centre dining pub. Unique also in that it’s a very attractive and much-admired building in its own right. The grade-II listed interior, the best of British food and the cask-conditioned ales have attracted a number of artists over the years. Rarely so many in one sitting.

Tom’s has been at the heart of Manchester’s business and social community for almost 150 years now. This exhibition is intended to give something back. Feel free to come in for a pint, a meal or just for a look. The art is freely displayed in the bar, the restaurant and up the beautiful art deco stairway. Private viewings of shortlisted works are also available in the first floor offices – by prior appointment only.

Many famous artists are celebrated for their connections with the bars and restaurants they ‘frequented.’ Sometimes for inspiration, sometimes for companionship and sometimes, when lack of funds dictate, trading art for food. Think of la Colombe d’Or in St Paul de Vence in the south of France, for instance, with its works by Miro, Braque and Chagall. Closer to home, Mr Thomas’s brother in arms, Sam’s Chop House is famous for its connections with a former regular, LS Lowry, who is immortalised there in the form of a life-sized bronze.

It is also true that art and food are both creative pursuits. And the best food is certainly a picture on the plate. Equally important, the best restaurants make great places to look at and discuss art in an informal and enjoyable setting.

Tom’s owner, Roger Ward has always collected art. It’s his passion. He’s commissioned original work for years. And now, inspired by the student art competition of 2010, Mr Thomas’s and Sam’s are both galleries or permanent exhibition spaces in their own right. They showcase the work of local artists and photographers – with some success.

Both Paul Wolfgang Webster and Jonathan Oakes have had images created for shows in Tom’s accepted by the National Portrait Gallery. And Peter Hodgkinson’s statue of Lowry has been seen around the world courtesy of the enormous media interest it generated. Sefton Samuels, the photojournalist who captured Lowry’s image in 1968 and whose works bring the man behind the art to life is publishing a new book, Northerners, at the age of 80. Now Lynton Hemsley has started a series of new paintings inspired by Sam’s bar, its famous statue and the characters who spend time there.

And for forthcoming exhibitions by:

• Kirsty  White, illustrator, the Best in the North, 2010 – Mr Thomas’s, November 2011
• Tony Husband, cartoonist (Private Eye, The Spectator, The Times, The Sunday Express) – Mr Thomas’s, September 2011