The thriving market in South Yorkshire is the latest of six unconventional venues to host the artwork this summer, with sites in the East Midlands, Scotland and Northern Ireland yet to be revealed.

The travelling Jan van Huysum Visits exhibition aims to promote ways in which art and culture can support wellbeing and reach audiences who have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19, with each display exploring one of six ‘Ways to Wellbeing’: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning, Give, and Care (for the Planet).

The arrival of Flowers in a Terracotta Vase is not the first link Barnsley has to van Huysum, with another work by the artist, Flower Piece, housed in the town’s Cannon Hall Museum. Recently restored, the painting will be placed on display at the nearby Cooper Gallery to coincide with the National Gallery exhibition.

To ensure as many locals as possible know about the complementary temporary exhibitions, Barnsley Museums and National Gallery have collaborated to create a trail of large crocheted flowers marking out the route between the market and the gallery.

“It is such an honour that Barnsley is part of this amazing project and to have artwork of this calibre in the town for people to see and discover is a real privilege,” says Cllr Tim Cheetham, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s cabinet spokesperson for place (regeneration and culture).

“Our markets are loved far and wide and I am sure it will be a welcomed surprise to have such an amazing edition. The fact that the artwork links so closely to the towns outstanding collections is wonderful and we hope people will visit the Cooper Gallery to see more work by the artist.”

Prior to the public being welcomed in to see Flowers in a Terracotta Vase, Barnsley Museums invited members of Action for Asperger’s and Autism Barnsley to find out more about the painting in a series of sessions with curators from Barnsley Museums and the National Gallery.

The group were fascinated by the details in the painting and wrote a poem together in response, which has now been used in the exhibit’s interpretation.

Jan van Huysum Visits will be in Barnsley between 15th and 20th June.

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