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: Battlefields of Britain
During the Second World War, the funding and provision of art for government buildings and embassies was paused. A small number of works were lost, damaged or destroyed as a result of the hostilities, with one exception.
A closer look: Frank Auerbach’s Mornington Crescent
Frank Auerbach always chose to paint subjects that were close to him.
Identities, disguises and hidden love stories
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.
Queen Elizabeth II in the Government Art Collection
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.
A closer look: Vasylkiv Cockerel
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.
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.
The coronation works in the Collection
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.
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.
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.
Body, mind and soul: the making of Lord Byron
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.