Collection highlights
Over the last 120 years, the Government Art Collection has grown and developed into an eclectic and inspiring mix of paintings, prints, sculptures and audio visual installations. But what is the funniest work in the Collection? Or the longest?
What is the tallest artwork in the Collection?
This sculpture was one of four works that were commissioned from artists in 2008 for the Ministry of Justice in London. Standing tall at an impressive 13.5 metres high (that’s about 44 feet!), Conrad Shawcross’s work makes a real impact in the atrium.
Conrad Shawcross, Axiom, 2009, wood sculpture on display in the Ministry of Justice, London © Conrad Shawcross
What is the longest artwork in the Collection?
Another work specially commissioned for the newly refurbished Ministry of Justice building is this – Paper Leaves and Concrete Trees by Martin Boyce. Pieced together around the interior atrium of the building, brass letters form a 45-metre-long poetic narrative referring to the construction of the building and its modernist history.
Martin Boyce, Paper Leaves and Concrete Trees, 2008
What is the oldest artwork in the Collection?
Believed to have been painted some point between 1527 and 1550, this portrait of Henry VIII stands out as the oldest artwork in the Collection. Some scholars believe this is one of the earliest surviving portraits of the Tudor king.
Anglo-Flemish School, King Henry VIII (1491-1547), c.1527-1550
What is the oldest artwork by a female artist in the Collection?
The Collection curators were over the moon to acquire this portrait by Joan Carlile which is the earliest work by a woman to enter the Collection. It was acquired in 2018, the same year as the centenary of the Representation of the People Act that gave the vote to some women in the UK for the first time.
Joan Carlile, Portrait of a Lady wearing an oyster satin dress, 1650s
What is the funniest artwork in the Collection?
Of course, humour is subjective… but Peter Liversidge’s posters were part of ‘Proposals for the Government Art Collection’, a multi-part work that the Government Art Collection commissioned from the artist in 2017. It was first shown at An Eyeful of Wry, an exhibition exploring humour in art that the Collection curated for the Brynmor Jones Library during Hull City of Culture 2017.
Peter Liversidge, Proposals for the Government Art Collection – joke stack, 2017 © Peter Liversidge
What is the smallest work in the Collection?
The Collection acquired this tiny sculpture by Peter Saville and Anna Blessman alongside the artists’ In Course of Arrangement work in 2008. A witty nod to the small notices that museums leave in place of an artwork temporarily removed from a display, the notices themselves have been given the status of an artwork.
Peter Saville & Anna Blessmann, Object Removed, 2005 © Peter Saville & Anna Blessman
What is the loudest work in the Collection?
THIS IS SUPER LOUD!
Mel Brimfield, 4′ 33″ (Prepared Pianola for Roger Bannister), 2012 © Mel Brimfield
Explore the Collection's stories
A closer look: Lucian Freud’s Welsh Landscape
In 2008, Lucian Freud came to the headquarters of the Government Art Collection to revisit his work Welsh Landscape, painted between 1939 and 1940.
A closer look: Lowry’s coronation view
In 1953, L.S. Lowry was appointed an official artist at the coronation of Elizabeth II. He could not imagine why he was chosen to capture such a grand occasion.
A closer look: a masters’ secret for 10 guineas
In 1796, leading artists from the Royal Academy fell victim to an incredible hoax about an art masters' secret, masterminded by Ann Jemima Provis.
A closer look: George Vertue’s Charity Children
Curator Laura Popoviciu takes a closer look at George Vertue's 18th-century print that celebrates the Peace of Utrecht.