Stories that inspire: artworks category

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

To mark February's LGBTQ+ History Month, we're highlighting historical examples in the Collection which illustrate attitudes and perceptions of queer relationships and gender in early modern England.

Countless depictions of the Queen gained iconic status during her reign. As we commemorate the monarch's life, we look at depictions of her in the Government Art Collection.

As the UK Prime Minister and Ukrainian President walked through the empty streets of Kyiv, a Ukrainian woman approached them and handed them two ceramic jugs in the shape of a rooster.

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.

As part of the celebrations surrounding the coronation, over a hundred works of art were commissioned or purchased by the Ministry of Works from early 1953 to 1954. Explore these works in the Government Art Collection, from artists like L.S. Lowry, Laura Knight and Barbara Horridge.

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.

In 1796, leading artists from the Royal Academy fell victim to an incredible hoax about an art masters' secret, masterminded by Ann Jemima Provis.

Curator Laura Popoviciu takes a closer look at George Vertue's 18th-century print that celebrates the Peace of Utrecht.

In 2008, Lucian Freud came to the headquarters of the Government Art Collection to revisit his work Welsh Landscape, painted between 1939 and 1940.

On the bicentennial of Greece’s 1821 Revolution and War of Independence, discover Lord Byron through works of art and letters from the Government Art Collection and Newstead Abbey.