Art UK has updated its cookies policy. By using this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. To find out more read our updated Use of Cookies policy and our updated Privacy policy.

In the Spring of 2020, weeks before lockdown, I met up with my secondary school art teacher, himself an artist, for the first time in nearly 35 years. Talk quickly turned to his paintings, and it reaffirmed how inspiring I found the privilege of encounters with artists and talking to them about their art. After this teacher my first encounter was a long chat with my grandmother's friend's husband, 'Mac' who won medals from the Paris Salon in the first half of the 20th Century. The latest encounter, during lockdown, has included being in contact with the Surrealist Desmond Morris and the portrait painter Peter Edwards. This Curation includes most of those between those dates, and is currently under development.

13 artworks
Head of JYM III
© the artist. Image credit: British Council Collection

Head of JYM III 1980

Frank Helmuth Auerbach (b.1931)

Oil on board

H 71.1 x W 61 cm

British Council Collection

Passing Over
© Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust. Image credit: Government Art Collection

Passing Over 1982–1986

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912–2004)

Oil on canvas

H 91.5 x W 122 cm

Government Art Collection

Glenda Jackson (1936–2023)
© National Portrait Gallery, London. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

Glenda Jackson (1936–2023) 1993

Glenys Barton (b.1944)

Ceramic

H 40 cm

National Portrait Gallery, London

On the Balcony
© Peter Blake. All rights reserved, DACS 2023. Image credit: Tate

On the Balcony 1955–7

Peter Blake (b.1932)

Oil on canvas

H 121.3 x W 90.8 cm

Tate

Street Corner Study: London Series
© Boyle Family. All rights reserved, DACS 2024 . Image credit: National Museums NI

Street Corner Study: London Series 1967–1969

Boyle Family (active since mid-20th C)

Synthetic resin on wooden frame

H 181.3 x W 180.4 x D 10 cm

National Museums NI

John Randall Bratby; Josephine ('Joey') Pleasence, née Crombie
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

John Randall Bratby; Josephine ('Joey') Pleasence, née Crombie 1967

John Randall Bratby (1928–1992)

Oil on canvas

H 167.6 x W 91.4 cm

National Portrait Gallery, London

Daley Thompson
© National Portrait Gallery, London. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

Daley Thompson 1986

David Buckland (b.1949)

Cibachrome print

H 100.3 x W 76.2 cm

National Portrait Gallery, London

Auberge belles choses, St Cirq-Lapopie
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery

Auberge belles choses, St Cirq-Lapopie 1985

Bernard Dunstan (1920–2017)

Oil on board

H 31 x W 26 cm

Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery

The Photographer
© the artist's estate. Image credit: National Coal Mining Museum for England

The Photographer mid-20th C

Betty Miller (1926–2023)

Bronze

H 12.7 x W 10.2 x D 3 cm

National Coal Mining Museum for England

Elizabeth Bowen
© the artist. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

Elizabeth Bowen 1969

André Durand (b.1942)

Oil on canvas

H 101.6 x W 91.4 cm

National Portrait Gallery, London

Seamus Heaney
© National Portrait Gallery, London. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

Seamus Heaney 1987–1988

Peter Douglas Edwards (b.1955)

Oil on canvas

H 198.1 x W 137.2 cm

National Portrait Gallery, London

David Bowie
© the artist / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

David Bowie 1994

Stephen Finer (b.1949)

Oil on canvas

H 56.2 x W 45.4 cm

National Portrait Gallery, London

Maggie Aderin-Pocock (b.1968)
© Simon Frederick. Image credit: Simon Frederick / National Portrait Gallery, London

Maggie Aderin-Pocock (b.1968) 2016

Simon Frederick (b.1965)

Archival inkjet print

H 38 x W 26 cm

National Portrait Gallery, London