 In 1911 the city of York belatedly recognised Etty . A statue of Etty by G. W. Milburn was unveiled on 1 February outside the York Art Gallery , and a retrospective of 164 Etty paintings was held at the gallery despite opposition from some of Etty 's descendants who refused to lend works for it . William Wallace Hargrove , proprietor of the York Herald , gave a speech recalling his memories of knowing Etty . Outside York , Etty generally remained little @-@ known , with the majority of those galleries holding his works , other than the Lady Lever Art Gallery , the Russell @-@ Cotes Museum and Anglesey Abbey , tending to keep them in storage . Minor Etty exhibitions in London in 1936 and 1938 had little impact , and likewise an exhibition of 30 Etty paintings in 1948 to mark the reopening of the York Art Gallery and another York exhibition of 108 paintings the following year to mark the centenary of his death . In 2001 – 02 four Etty paintings were included in Tate Britain 's landmark Exposed : The Victorian Nude exhibition , which did much to raise Etty 's profile , and established Etty as " the first British artist to paint the nude with both seriousness and consistency " . The restoration of The Sirens and Ulysses , completed in 2010 , led to increased interest in Etty , and in 2011 – 12 a major exhibition of Etty 's works was held at the York Art Gallery . The York Art Gallery continues to hold the largest collection of Etty 's works . 
