AN EXHIBITION celebrating the 150th anniversary of one of Chester’s most respected artists has opened.

William Monk was born in the city in 1863 and became a leading figure in the British etching revival, which saw the rebirth of etching as an artistically creative form of printmaking.

His work features in A Vision of England: Etchings by William Monk which is running at the Grosvenor Museum until August 4.

Prints include picturesque Chester, historic colleges and etchings of metropolitan London.

Cllr Stuart Parker, executive member for culture and recreation for Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “I am enormously grateful to Robert Stones, who bequeathed most of the pictures in this exhibition together with a large collection of work by William Monk and other artists.

“The conservation of the pictures from the Robert Stones bequest was funded by the Megan Gwynne-Jones Charitable Trust.”

William Monk was the son of gunmaker William Henry Monk, whose business continues today in Queen Street.

He attended Chester School of Art and had a studio in Eastgate Row North.

Monk moved to London in 1892 before returning to Chester in 1933.

Peter Davies, civil partner and executor of the late Robert Stones, said: “This exhibition had been a long-held ambition of Robert’s, and I am thrilled that it has now come to fruition.

“Thanks to Robert’s bequest to the Grosvenor Museum, and funding from the Megan Gwynne-Jones Charitable Trust, we can all see what a prolific artist William Monk was and how much he loved Chester.”

Clive Pointon, chairman of the Megan Gwynne-Jones Charitable Trust, said: “With 46 exhibits spanning the artist’s career from the 1880s to the 1930s, this is the first retrospective of William Monk’s etchings since his memorial exhibition in 1938.

“I am delighted the trust has been able to fund the conservation of these pictures, enabling the public to fully appreciate this important Chester artist in his home city.”