This virtual exhibition is curated by the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, and shines a spotlight on some of the most significant artists represented in Swindon’s collection of modern British art. Selected artworks span the Twentieth Century and include work from defining groups and movements, such as the Bloomsbury Group, the St Ives School and the School of London. ‘Big Hitters’ also showcases pieces by important contemporary painters Christopher le Brun, Eileen Cooper and Maggi Hambling, as well as treasured paintings in the collection by Gillian Ayres, David Bomberg, L.S. Lowry and many more.

28 artworks
1933 (composition in black and white)
© Angela Verren Taunt. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

1933 (composition in black and white) 1933

Ben Nicholson (1894–1982)

Oil & gesso on board

H 112 x W 53 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Play Dead II
© Eileen Cooper / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Play Dead II 1995–1997

Eileen Cooper (b.1953)

Oil on canvas

H 68.5 x W 91.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Winter in Pendlebury, Manchester
© The Estate of L.S. Lowry. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Winter in Pendlebury, Manchester 1943

Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976)

Oil on panel

H 42.2 x W 22.8 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Seated Model
© Estate of Duncan Grant. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Seated Model c.1915–1916

Duncan Grant (1885–1978)

Oil on board

H 57.5 x W 40 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Spring in Eden
© the artist's estate. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Spring in Eden 1925

Ivon Hitchens (1893–1979)

Oil on canvas

H 49 x W 59.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

The Port of Bristol
© trustees of the Corsham estate. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

The Port of Bristol 1938

Paul Ayshford Methuen (1886–1974)

Oil on canvas

H 64.3 x W 102 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Hyperion
© Christopher Le Brun. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Hyperion 1982

Christopher Le Brun (b.1951)

Oil on canvas

H 249 x W 214 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Tower Bridge, London: A War-Time Nocturne
© the artist's estate. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Tower Bridge, London: A War-Time Nocturne

Claude Francis Barry (1883–1970)

Oil on canvas

H 73 x W 94.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Self Portrait with Juliet
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Self Portrait with Juliet 1979

John Bellany (1942–2013)

Oil on canvas

H 165 x W 106.7 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Nude with Poppies
© estate of Vanessa Bell. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Nude with Poppies 1916

Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)

Oil on canvas

H 23.4 x W 42.4 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Florestan
© the artist's estate. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Florestan 1986

Gillian Ayres (1930–2018)

Oil on canvas

H 137.5 x W 138.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Girl Selling Flowers
© Desmond Morris. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Girl Selling Flowers 1946

Desmond Morris (b.1928)

Oil on board

H 73 x W 88 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Pistyll Maes-Glasau
© the Piper Estate / DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Pistyll Maes-Glasau 1940

John Piper (1903–1992)

Chalk, charcoal & gouache on paper

H 50.2 x W 37.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Descent of the Bull's Head
© the artist / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Descent of the Bull's Head 1985

Maggi Hambling (b.1945)

Oil on cotton duck

H 160 x W 122.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Girl with a Fig Leaf
© Lucian Freud Archive / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Girl with a Fig Leaf 1947

Lucian Freud (1922–2011)

Etching on paper

H 30 x W 24 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Ship Amid Tall Waves
Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Ship Amid Tall Waves

Alfred Wallis (1855–1942)

Oil & pencil on cardboard

H 26.5 x W 32.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

The Printer
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

The Printer c.1915

Laura Sylvia Gosse (1881–1968)

Oil on canvas

H 100 x W 74.8 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

The Thames
© the estate of Mary Fedden / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

The Thames 1962

Mary Fedden (1915–2012)

Oil on canvas

H 49.3 x W 59.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Birling Gap
© the artist's estate. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Birling Gap 1981–1983

Jeffery Camp (1923–2020)

Oil on board

H 72 x W 122 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Grey, Red and Black Verticals
© estate of Terry Frost. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Grey, Red and Black Verticals 1962

Terry Frost (1915–2003)

Oil on canvas

H 101 x W 126.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

The South East Corner, Jerusalem
© the estate of David Bomberg. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

The South East Corner, Jerusalem 1926

David Bomberg (1890–1957)

Oil on board

H 55.5 x W 73.2 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

The Sibyl
© Tate / Tate Images. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

The Sibyl 1964

Cecil Collins (1908–1989)

Oil & acrylic on board

H 75 x W 90 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Welsh Hills
Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Welsh Hills

Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (1889–1946)

Oil on canvas

H 49.3 x W 59.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Roman Window
© the artist's estate. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Roman Window 1950

Michael Ayrton (1921–1975)

Oil on canvas

H 125.5 x W 75 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Gramophone
© Howard Hodgkin. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Gramophone 1964–1966

Howard Hodgkin (1932–2017)

Oil on canvas

H 71.5 x W 91.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Edge of the Wood
Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Edge of the Wood c.1944

Paul Nash (1889–1946)

Pencil & watercolour on buff paper

H 38.7 x W 57.2 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Still Life with Boats, St Ives, Cornwall
Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Still Life with Boats, St Ives, Cornwall 1930

Christopher Wood (1901–1930)

Oil on panel

H 22 x W 53.5 cm

Museum & Art Swindon

Bright Intervals
Image credit: Museum & Art Swindon

Bright Intervals 1928

Edward Alexander Wadsworth (1889–1949)

Tempera on canvas laid on panel

H 63 x W 88 cm

Museum & Art Swindon