Throughout its history, the Whitworth has aimed to be a great gallery in a great city. It was founded more than 120 years ago as a source of pleasure and enjoyment for the citizens of Manchester and to provide opportunities for all to learn about the visual arts. The Whitworth houses collections of international significance including outstanding works on paper, ranging from Renaissance prints to British landscape watercolours, and modern and contemporary work by artists from Picasso to Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Tracey Emin. The holdings of fine art are matched in terms of interest and importance by large collections of world textiles and wallpapers.