Art UK

Art UK Connecting you to art 🖼️
Art UK is an art education charity and digital space that connects everyone with the UK's public art collection.

Art UK is a cultural education charity. We enable global audiences to learn about the UK’s national art collection. Our website is the showcase for art in every UK public collection and is a collaboration between over 3,200 British institutions. The art you see on Art UK is for everyone – for enjoyment, learning and research. These artworks are in museums, universities, town halls, hospitals and other civic buildings across the country. As 80% of this art is not on public view, Art UK allows you to see art that you would not normally be able to visit. Art UK is free for all to enjoy. It is through the generosity of a wide range of public and private funders that we are able to make this possible.

💬 What do you notice in this painting? This Visual Literacy Week, we invite you to take a closer look at this artwork by...
08/10/2026

💬 What do you notice in this painting?

This Visual Literacy Week, we invite you to take a closer look at this artwork by The Singh Twins.

With lots going on, we might all see something different! Perhaps you'll spot the artists themselves, dressed identically with one holding a paintbrush, the other a camera.

Explore further in our The Superpower of Looking resource for schools 👉 https://artuk.org/learn/learning-resources/the-superpower-of-looking-a-scottish-sikh-hosts-a-special-gathering

🧑‍🏫 The lesson plan includes lots of context, prompts and questions to ask your class.

'Lesmahagow Durbar' by The Singh Twins © The Singh Twins: www.singhtwins.co.uk 📸 The Singh Twins

Just added to Art UK 🌟You might have seen this new sculpture in London’s Trafalgar Square. It represents a contemporary ...
06/10/2026

Just added to Art UK 🌟

You might have seen this new sculpture in London’s Trafalgar Square. It represents a contemporary 'everywoman' and a reflection of many Londoners today. A strong and purposeful striding woman heads towards the future with ambition.

Read about the history of the Fourth Plinth 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-fourth-plinth-in-trafalgar-square-cutting-edge-sculpture-in-the-heart-of-london

'Lady in Blue' by Tschabalala Self (b.1990) © courtesy of the artist and Pilar Corrias Gallery, London. 📷 Andy Smith / Art UK

To mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, a new story by Ben Wiedel-Kaufmann has just been published.T...
05/10/2026

To mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, a new story by Ben Wiedel-Kaufmann has just been published.

The Battle of Cable Street mural is likely the best-known and amongst the most loved of the 400 or so murals made on London's streets during the 1970s and 1980s. Completed in two phases between 1978 and 1983 by David Binnington, Paul Butler, Desmond Rochfort and Ray Walker, it was also the longest-running continuous project.

Ben explores more about the mural, have a read 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-battle-of-cable-street-mural-working-class-resistance-against-fascism

📷 David Hoffmman

Welcome to Visual Literacy Week 🌟This week we're taking a deep dive into the transformative skill of visual literacy. We...
05/10/2026

Welcome to Visual Literacy Week 🌟

This week we're taking a deep dive into the transformative skill of visual literacy. We're excited to bring you our second Visual Literacy Week line-up following our inaugural event in 2024, which introduced our award-winning programme for schools – The Superpower of Looking.

Our theme this year is Making connections, shining a light on how visual literacy is integral not just to Art and Design lessons, but across a range of subjects and situations which thread through the school day.

Join events, discover new resources on our website and follow along on social to learn more about the power of visual literacy 👉 https://artuk.org/learn/visual-literacy-week-2026

Looking for exhibitions to visit in October?Here is just a small selection of the many exhibitions you can visit this mo...
02/10/2026

Looking for exhibitions to visit in October?

Here is just a small selection of the many exhibitions you can visit this month.

Our What’s on feed makes it easy to find exhibitions, displays, talks, tours, and workshops across the UK 👉 https://artuk.org/visit/whats-on

🎨 You might have already used Art UK to plan museum and gallery visits – now it’s even easier to discover and enjoy art wherever you are.

Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Cover image: ‘Beachy Head' by Eric Ravilious (1903–1942) 📷 Towner Eastbourne

01/10/2026

Apologies for the very not-Leeds accent on this one...

Born in Leeds to parents of modest means, John Atkinson Grimshaw first worked as a clerk for the railways before deciding he wanted to paint, and he was apparently self-taught.

By his mid-30s, Grimshaw's paintings were so commercially successful that he was able to live (albeit beyond his means) in a manor house, Knostrop Old Hall, in Leeds, while renting a second house at Scarborough on the coast.

His pictures leave the story of art largely unperturbed, and for some are undeserving of attention. Atmospheric and theatrical, glamourised by a range of radiant effects, they provide an easy pleasure which will doubtless endure.

Explore the full story 'Moonlight and northern towns: the enduring appeal of John Atkinson Grimshaw' by Adam Wattam on Art UK 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/stories/moonlight-and-northern-towns-the-enduring-appeal-of-john-atkinson-grimshaw

30/09/2026

🌊 Welcome to Plymouth!

You might know Britain's Ocean City for the Barbican, Smeaton’s Tower and its seaside views, but there’s plenty of street art to discover too.

Discover some of the city's murals, from maritime heritage to music and social justice.

Explore Plymouth’s street art on Art UK, alongside more than 6,000 murals from across the country 👉 https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/2026--work_type:mural

Artists featured:

Anna Christie
Arts University Plymouth
Brick Project
Eleanor Elliot-Rathbone
Eleanor Tomas
Icanone
Jessica Campbell-Plower
Joe Greenaway
Lee Jackson
LOCI Collective
My Dog Sighs
Philippa Threlfall
Plymouth Artists Together
Rosie Cunningham
Roy Christie
Serena June Creative
SpraySaint
Stephen Smith
Sue Lewry
Will Luz

© the artists.

🎥 Adam Murray / Art UK

28/09/2026

May Morris was not only William Morris’ daughter, but a talented artist and designer in her own right.

✨ In a new series exploring the ‘May Morris: Crafting a Legacy’ exhibition at Lady Lever Art Gallery, Fiona Slattery Clark, the Curator of Decorative Art for National Museums Liverpool, guides us through the unique life and work of May Morris – from her early childhood to her work at Morris & Co., and her later, more radical career.

Watch the first episode 👉 https://youtu.be/IFrpbzZSgVs?si=_ItP0asZ136bbbFA

You can see works from the Lady Lever Art Gallery’s own collection, as well as important loans from the William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest and The William Morris Society, including May Morris’ earliest surviving drawing and her now iconic wallpaper designs.

Find out more about this exhibition and hundreds of others on Bloomberg Connects.

28/09/2026

Hello sailor 👋

We’ve teamed up with , author of new book Hotties in Art to discover some of the hotties you can find on Art UK 😍

First up it’s this portrait by Henry Marvell Carr, with sitter Maurice Alan Easton.

👉 Watch on to find out more about this artwork.

Hotties in Art is out now, published by 📖

–
‘An Ordinary Telegraphist, Maurice Alan Easton’ by Henry Marvell Carr (1894–1970) 📷

26/09/2026

Meet WOM Collective 💞

Mural artists Elno and Lours discuss the inspiration, process and techniques behind their solo practices and WOM Collective, the female-led street art collective they founded, as they create a new mural in London to mark its 7th anniversary.

🎥 Watch the full film on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8dMxXGt1JU&t=2s

This is one of a series of films exploring the work of contemporary mural artists across the UK. Find more great learning resources on Art UK.

Made possible with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

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