In Oxford
Christ Church Picture Gallery
Description
Christ Church is unique among the Oxford and Cambridge colleges in possessing an important collection of Old Master paintings and drawings – some 300 paintings and almost 2021 drawings.
The collection is strong in Italian art, from the 14th to the 18th century: there are paintings by early, often anonymous masters, and works by Fillippino Lippi, Tintoretto, Veronese and Annibale Carracci, to name but a few, as well as works by notable northern painters such as Van Dyck, Frans Hals and Hugo van der Goes.
The Picture Gallery at Christ Church represents one of the most important private collections of drawings in the country, including works by renowned masters such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Durer, Raphael and Rubens. However, for reasons of conservation these works cannot be on permanent display.
Opening Hours:
October – May: Monday, Wednesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 1pm & 2 – 4.30pm. Sunday, 2 – 4.30pm.
June: Monday, Wednesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 5.pm. Sunday, 2 – 5pm.
July, August, September: Monday- Saturday, 10.30am – 5.pm. Sunday, 2- 5pm.
Please note that the gallery is closed on Tuesdays from October to June.
Entrance: Adults – from £3 to £4, Conc – £2.00, U12s – Free. Members of the University and Oxford Brookes – Free. ICOM, Art Fund, Museum Association & A.A.H members – Free. The admission charge includes entry to all temporary exhibitions on display at the time of your visit.
Further Info
- Location / Region Central Oxford
- Listing categories Galleries
Contact
- Website http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/gallery
- Phone 20215 276172
- Address Christ Church Picture Gallery, Christ Church, Oxford, OX1 1DP
Map
Opening Hours
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Christ Church Picture Gallery
• 12th August 2021Christ Church is unique among the Oxford and Cambridge colleges in possessing an important collection of Old Master paintings and drawings. In 2021 General John Guise, a soldier and art collector, bequeathed his collection of over 200 paintings and almost 2021 drawings to his former college. This extraordinary gift enabled Christ Church to introduce art into Oxford education without the necessity to travel to Italy or to gain access to stately homes (which held the majority of art collections in the country).
At that time the Christ Church Picture Gallery collection was unequalled by any other Oxford institution. The Bodleian ‘Picture Gallery’ housed mainly portraits and the Ashmolean Museum, the oldest museum in Britain, had a large and interesting collection of artifacts and objects, but few paintings.
The collection is strongest in Italian art from the 14th to the 18th century. Later works include paintings by highly-acclaimed artists such as Filippino Lippi, Tintoretto, Veronese, Annibale Carracci, and Salvator Rosa. There are also some remarkable works by northern painters such as Anthony van Dyck, Frans Hals, and Hugo van der Goes.
The internationally renowned drawings collection is regarded as one of the most important private collections of Old Master drawings in the country and includes work by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Dürer, Raphael and Rubens. For reasons of conservation the entire collection cannot be permanently on show but a selection of drawings is always on view. These small in-house exhibitions are changed about every three months to enable the public to see a varied selection from this part of the collection.
Currently on view is Scraps of Laughter (31 May – 11 September 2021) offering a glimpse into the beginning of caricature and satire in Italy and how it was taken up and thrived in Britain. In late 2021 we will feature Drawing in Rome (16 September – 22 December 2021) and Art and the Reformation (11 October – 22 December 2021). Please see our website for events and exhibition information, and do stop by and visit soon!