Art
Our art collections include more than 15,000 works of art and craft and represent 700 years of creativity and making from the 1400s to present day.
Our region has a rich creative heritage and this is reflected in the content of our art collections. We hold works by prominent local artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin Robert Haydon and Cecil Collins.
We also have rich collections of work by artists such as J.M.W Turner, who made their way to this region, drawn by the unique light and landscapes on offer.
Our Newlyn School and St Ives collections contain works by artists such as Stanhope Forbes and Peter Lanyon.
You can further explore and purchase prints of our oil paintings and sculpture via the Art UK website.
Decorative Art
Spanning ceramics, glass, furniture, costume, textiles, silver and contemporary craft, The Box’s decorative art collection contains almost 5,000 objects.
Plymouth was home to the UK’s first hard-paste porcelain production and our collection of Plymouth and Bristol porcelain is the largest in the UK. We also have a wide selection from other British and European factories and makers, including the work of Dorothy Doughty, Bernard Moore and the Martin Brothers.
Our collection of contemporary craft items by makers such as Naoki Takeyama, David Clarke and Paul Scott.
Contemporary Art
Including works by Kehinde Wiley, Keith Harrison and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, The Box is building a collection of contemporary art which reflects on current themes and on our past histories.
We also collect work by contemporary makers and actively seek out artists whose work reflects or relates to the materials, techniques or forms in our historic collections.
Image credits:
Top image - Detail of 'Black Death-Crown of Thorns', (2019) by Morel Doucet. Reproduced with thanks to the artist.
Middle image - 'Hakutai (A Thousand Years)' by Naoki Takeyama