Our Collection – Southampton City Art Gallery

Our Collection

Southampton City Art Gallery holds one of the finest collections of art in the south of England and holds ‘Designated’ status, awarded by Arts Council England. Currently comprising over 5,000 works and spanning eight centuries, the collection is an outstanding educational resource that can trace the history of European art from the Renaissance to the present. The core, however, is British twentieth century and contemporary art.

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Strong clusters of this element include Post-Impressionism (Camden Town Group), Surrealism, St Ives, and progressive contemporary (Turner Prize) from the mid-1970s. Notable works include Allegretto di Nuzio’s ‘Coronation of the Virgin’, Guiseppe Arcimboldo’s ‘Summer’, J. M. W. Turner’s ‘Fishermen upon a Lee Shore in Squally Weather’, Claude Monet’s ‘The Church at Vétheuil’, Edward Burne-Jones’s ‘The Perseus Series’, Walter Sickert’s ‘The Juvenile Lead’, Paul Delvaux’s ‘A Siren in Full Moonlight’ and Chris Ofili’s ‘Two Doo Voodoo’.Explore our collection on ArtUK. You can also borrow a work of art from us.

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Southampton City Art Gallery

Art Gallery Library & Records

We maintain history files relating to all artists whose works are in the permanent collection as well as a small library containing related monographs, publications and exhibition catalogues. These records are made accessible to the general public through a supervised appointment scheme and are also accessible to staff and freelance workers involved in the interpretation of the collection. For more information please send an email to art.gallery@southampton.gov.uk or telephone 023 8083 4563.

Slide Library

We have a slide library containing some 20,000 images. Slides cover all types and styles of art of all periods and includes slides of works in the permanent collection. The slides can be borrowed by members of the public for renewable one month periods free of charge. The service is run on an appointment only basis by a volunteer. For more information please send an email to art.gallery@southampton.gov.uk or telephone 023 8083 4563.

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