Stories that inspire: artists category

Read the fascinating stories of how and why artworks have been selected for show around the world.

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12 Collection highlights not to miss

The Government Art Collection is 125 years old. From the earliest work by a female artist in the Collection, to more recent artwork by artists like Hew Locke and Bridget Riley, take a look at some of the works of art our curators have highlighted from this unusual national Collection.

A closer look: Frank Auerbach’s Mornington Crescent

Frank Auerbach always chose to paint subjects that were close to him.

Art questions… with Joanne Coates

We sat down with artist Joanne Coates to talk about photography, storytelling and the North East.

Art questions… with Ilana Halperin

We spoke to artist Ilana Halperin about her life as an artist and her fascination with geology and art – from volcanoes and meteorites to Iona marble.

Rita Keegan: ‘We humans have a desire to collect’

An artist whose work recently became part of the Government Art Collection, Rita Keegan is a key but overlooked figure in the history of Black British art. Keegan talks about her childhood, her start as an artist and how her identity has shaped the art she creates.

Art and identity: South Asian Heritage Month

Celebrate South Asian Heritage Month (17 July – 18 August) with artworks in the Collection by artists from the South Asian diaspora.

Windrush Day: art, archives and emotional legacy

Windrush Day 2023 marks 75 years since the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks, Essex on 22 June 1948. On board was one of the first large groups of post-war Caribbean immigrants to the United Kingdom. This pivotal moment in history has undeniably influenced knowledge, culture and industry across all levels of British society.

Women artists shaping British art

Celebrate Women’s History Month with three works recently added to the collection by female artists who are shaping the face of British art.

Art questions with… Christopher Samuel

We sat down with artist Christopher Samuel to discuss art and access for Disability History Month.

The Audition in Colour: imagining otherness and finding new forms of expression

Have you ever thought that your face was a work of art? Curator and art writer Chiedza Mhondoro explores Sonia Boyce's The Audition in Colour.

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.