Paintings in Hospitals is an

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1959, the charity's services include the provision of artwork loans, art projects and art workshops to health and social care organisations. The charity's activities are based on clinical evidence demonstrating health and wellbeing benefits of the arts to patients and care staff. The charity owns and manages the Paintings in Hospitals collection: a loan collection of modern and contemporary art. The Paintings in Hospitals collection is the only known national art loan collection with the specific purpose of improving health and wellbeing. Paintings in Hospitals is the healthcare partner of the

Arts Council Collection The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

. The charity was recognised by the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

and

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

as a key provider of arts and health services in the 2007 UK government publication "A prospectus for arts and health".

History

Paintings in Hospitals was founded in 1959 by Sheridan Russell, Head Almoner at the

National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (informally the National Hospital or Queen Square) is a neurological hospital in Queen Square, London. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was the ...

. From the early 1950s, Russell had observed that the paintings of contemporary artists were far more effective than the existing reproductions in brightening up the corridors and waiting rooms of the hospital. Russell persuaded his art-world contacts to donate artworks for display in the hospital's corridors and waiting rooms. Initially, administration of the hospital art scheme was through an advisory committee of art experts, established under the leadership of Sir Dennis Proctor, a former chairman of the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. Russell formalised the art loan programme in 1959 under the name Paintings in Hospitals. In 1960 it gained significant financial support from the

Nuffield Foundation The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors Ltd. It aims to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation projects in education and social pol ...

over a period of 15 years to establish a permanent collection of artworks for loan to other hospitals. Early acquisitions for the Paintings in Hospitals collection included paintings by John Bratby,

Gillian Ayres Gillian Ayres (3 February 1930 – 11 April 2018) was an English painter. She is best known for abstract painting and printmaking using vibrant colours, which earned her a Turner Prize nomination. Early life and education Gillian Ayres was bo ...

and

Mary Fedden Mary Fedden, OBE RA RWA (14 August 1915 – 22 June 2012) was a British artist. Early years Sometimes mistakenly described as the daughter of Roy Fedden (who was in fact her uncle, as was Romilly Fedden), Mary Fedden was born in Bristol ...

. Within a period of ten years, the Paintings in Hospitals scheme grew to include 40 hospitals. In 1971, when the scheme registered as a charity, a board of trustees administered the programme. Board members at that time included Sir Dennis Proctor,

Lawrence Gowing Sir Lawrence Burnett Gowing (21 April 1918 – 5 February 1991) was an English artist, writer, curator and teacher. Initially recognised as a portrait and landscape painter, he quickly rose to prominence as an art educator, writer, and eventuall ...

, and

Eric Newton Eric Newton is an American journalist, Innovation Chief at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a consultant for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, an organization created by one of t ...

, who were later joined by

Roger de Grey Sir Roger de Grey, (18 April 1918 – 14 February 1995) was a British landscape painter. From 1984 to 1993 he served as President of the Royal Academy. Early life and career De Grey was the second son (and youngest of three children) of ...

, former President of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

and Lord Croft. In the 1980s, the charity began to develop a regional network of volunteer committees, enabling hospitals and other types of care sites outside of London to access the Paintings in Hospitals collection. In 1991, the charity provided seed funding and a loan of 100 paintings to establish Paintings in Hospitals Scotland. In 2005, Paintings in Hospitals Scotland became an independent Scottish charity with a name change to Art in Healthcare. Paintings in Hospitals celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. The charity celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2019, with events including a collection of 60 weekly articles from notable artists, patients, and carers and a panel discussion on the future of the arts-in-health sector at the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

, with speakers

Edmund de Waal Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, (born 10 September 1964) is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or th ...

Errol Francis Errol Anthony Francis (born in Oracabessa, Jamaica, 1956) is an artist, former mental health campaigner, and current charity executive in the United Kingdom. He currently lives and works in London, England. Biography Errol Francis gained his MA ...

, Val Huet,

Victoria Tischler Victoria Tischler is a British psychologist, currently Honorary Professor at the University of West London The University of West London (UWL) is a public research university in the United Kingdom with campuses in Ealing, Brentford, and in Re ...

, and

Ed Vaizey Edward Henry Butler Vaizey, Baron Vaizey of Didcot, (born 5 June 1968) is a British politician, media columnist, political commentator and barrister who was Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries from 2010 to 2016. A memb ...

. Paintings in Hospitals was shortlisted for the 'Special Recognition Award' at the Charity Today Awards 2019.

The Paintings in Hospitals collection

The Paintings in Hospitals collection is widely recognised as the first national collection of art specifically created to support physical and mental health. The collection holds approximately 4,000 paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, animations and photographs from artists including

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

and

Antony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; '' Another ...

. Around 70% of the collection is on public display at all times. Artworks on loan from Paintings in Hospitals to health and social care organisations in the United Kingdom are seen by approximately two million patients every year. In January 2002, The

Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the D ...

donated 50 artworks to Paintings in Hospitals, including works by artists

Simon Callery Simon Callery (born 1960 in London) is an English artist. Life and work He was educated at Campions school, Athens, Greece, and gained a first class honours degree from Cardiff College of Art in 1983. He has worked in Turin, and is now resid ...

, Nicholas May, Joanna Price, Stephen Murphy, Carol Rhodes and Robert Wilson. In 2011, Paintings in Hospitals unveiled their children's collection, designed to make healthcare sites more comfortable for children, especially teens and young adults. The artworks in the children's collection were chosen through workshops and discussions with young people from Tate Collective, the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

's youth forum, and included artworks by

Albert Irvin Albert Henry Thomas Irvin (21 August 1922 – 26 March 2015) was an English expressionist abstract artist. Life and career Irvin was born in London on 21 August 1922. He was evacuated from there during World War II, to study at the Northampton ...

, John Hoyland, and

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...

. Paintings in Hospitals' discussions with Tate Collective also resulted in the charity commissioning three new artworks, to be permanently added to its collection, by New York-based artist

Jon Burgerman Jon Burgerman is an English artist living in, New York, US. Life and work Jon Burgerman studied art foundation in Bournville, Birmingham, England. He graduated in fine art from Nottingham Trent University in 2001. In 2008, he appeared as a gu ...

. In 2012,

Dame Stephanie Shirley Dame Vera Stephanie "Steve" Shirley (previously Brook, née Buchthal; born 16 September 1933) is an information technology pioneer, businesswoman and philanthropist (naturalised British in 1951). Early life Shirley was born as Vera Buch ...

donated the entirety of her art collection, including works by

and

Elisabeth Frink Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...

, to Prior's Court School and Paintings in Hospitals. The chair of the charity's Collection committee is trustee David Cleaton-Roberts, director at Cristea Roberts Gallery.

Partnerships

Paintings in Hospitals is the healthcare partner of the

. The Arts Council Collection has made 100 works of art available to Paintings in Hospitals enabling the charity to bring a new selection of work by contemporary artists into the healthcare system. In 2018, the two organisations partnered to produce the touring exhibition and symposium ''Rooted in the Landscape'', designed to explore the relationship between art, wellbeing and the natural environment. The exhibition included artists

Andy Goldsworthy Andy Goldsworthy (born 26 July 1956) is an English sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings. Early life Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire on 26 Ju ...

, Marc Quinn, and

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

-nominated

Janice Kerbel Janice Kerbel (born 1969) is a British artist. Biography Kerbel graduated from Goldsmiths College in 1996. In 2011 she won the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for artists. She works at Goldsmiths, University of London as a Reader in Fine Art. S ...

. The charity has worked with the

V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

over a period of 15 years to produce seven hospital exhibitions of artworks from the museum's collection. For some of the artworks, these exhibitions marked the first time they had been exhibited publicly. In 2012, Paintings in Hospitals was gifted five posters by the

London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...

as part of the museum’s Access to Art initiative. In celebration of the gift, Paintings in Hospitals partnered with the museum to invite a group of carers to create an original soundscape. In 2015, the charity collaborated with

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the R ...

to bring art by

Michael Craig-Martin Sir Michael Craig-Martin (born 28 August 1941) is an Irish-born contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is known for fostering and adopting the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his conceptual artwork, '' An Oak Tre ...

to Vassall Medical Centre, London, and the

National Spinal Injuries Centre Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital located on the parish borders of Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. It was established in ...

, Buckinghamshire. In 2016, Paintings in Hospitals partnered with the Wallace Collection and contemporary artist Tom Ellis to commission four large-scale paintings for GP surgeries across London. In the same year, the charity partnered with the

Ingram Collection of Modern British Art The Ingram Collection of Modern British Art is one of the largest and most significant publicly accessible collections of Modern British art in the UK, available to all through a programme of loans and exhibitions. The collection was created by me ...

to bring artworks from the collection to care homes in the South East of England. In 2017, the charity began a three-year partnership with the

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

art school. Students from the school's ''BA Culture, Criticism and Curation'' course explore the ways in which art might support the mental health of their peers with an annual exhibition at the Menier Gallery and at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. In 2018 the charity partnered with the Barns-Graham Trust seeking an emerging curator to develop a new touring exhibition of works by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. The resulting exhibition, ''Linear Meditations'', was shortlisted for 'Art Installation of the Year' at the Design in Mental Health Awards 2019. In 2019, Paintings in Hospitals partnered with the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

to place '' Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria'' by the Italian Baroque painter

Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi (, ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing profess ...

on display at Pocklington Group Practice, a GP surgery in East Yorkshire. In 2020, Paintings in Hospitals partnered with

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

to bring part of their art collection onto the online platform and to collaborate with the artist Thomas Croft on the virtual exhibition Healthcare Heroes, which featured over 700 artworks from the Portraits for NHS Heroes initiative.

References

{{reflist Arts organizations established in 1959 Arts organisations based in the United Kingdom Health charities in the United Kingdom Charities based in London Arts organisations based in England 1959 establishments in England Health charities in England British art Collections