Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park

What to see at Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park

The art gallery is housed inside a Grade I-listed 18th-century mansion set among 49ha (120 acres) of Capability Brown-landscaped grounds.

There are six permanent collections in the art gallery, which include:

British Folk Art
This gallery focuses on British folk art, primarily from the 19th and early 20th centuries. This includes works by people with no formal artistic training using a wide variety of media, including moving automata such as the Potter’s Workshop (below).

British Portraits
The collection of British portraits includes portraits of many people who have shaped Britain’s history including royalty and the aristocracy.

Chinese Art
The gallery’s Chinese collection features over 1500 years of Chinese art including works in bronze from the early Shang to the Han Dynasty.

Marx-Lambert
This gallery houses an extensive collection of English popular art, curated by artist Enid Marx (1902–1998) and historian Margaret Lambert (1906–1995).

Neapolitan Art
This is one of the most important collections of Neapolitan art from the 17th and 18th centuries, which is a time when Naples was three times as large as Rome.

Northern European Art
The gallery’s Northern European collection features artwork that spans the 200-year-long period from 1450 to 1650, a period when the majority of paintings were dominated by religious topics.

The Compton Verney Art Gallery also includes the Women’s Library, which was created in 1860 to promote women’s education and suffrage.

Temporary exhibitions at Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park

The art gallery hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions, which include:

The Shelter of Stories: Ways of Telling, Ways of Dwelling
This exhibition (until 22 February 2026) examines storytelling’s connection to home, belonging and its role during upheaval. Historic objects and contemporary works explore storytelling traditions, from hearthside tales to puppet shows in city streets. Pieces by Do Ho Suh and Mounira al Solh reflect how stories offer shelter and address fears. The exhibition also considers how stories confront dangers, imagine new worlds, and foster solidarity. Highlights include works by Paula Rego and Ana Maria Pacheco.

Commodities: Sculpture and Ceramics
This exhibition (until 8 March 2026) explores Renee So’s engagement with Chinese history and identity through sculptural and ceramic works. The artist examines the trade of goods and ideas between China and the West, challenging distortions shaped by orientalism. Highlights include oversized ceramic snuff bottles and perfume bottles critiquing luxury brands’ links to the Opium Wars. A new series responds to ritual vessels in Compton Verney’s collection, alongside a ‘magic mirror’ depicting women playing cuju, questioning gender and historical narratives.

TaoTie
The TaoTie exhibition (until 31 March 2026) will sit alongside Compton Verney’s Neolithic Chinese Bronzes collection. Gayle Chong Kwan (b.1974), known for her large-scale installations involving videos and photos, will introduce nine new photographic works influenced by her recent 18-month residency at Compton Verney. These will be complemented by ‘shrines’ featuring newly cast bronze offerings, referencing Chinese, Taoist and Buddhist cultures, and exploring themes of food, soil and the body. The exhibition’s title, TaoTie, alludes to a mythical Chinese creature frequently found on Shang Dynasty bronzes, with personal three-dimensional taotie motifs made from collaged images and photographs, each representing a different Chinese zodiac animal and drawing from Hungry Ghost festival mythology.

Sculpture in the Park
Sculpture in the Park (until 2 May 2027) features works by eight contemporary artists. Inspired by Compton Verney’s historical setting, the sculptures challenge the notion of 18th-century landscape design as a form of utopia.

Modern Masterpieces: Paintings from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Modern Masterpieces (12 November 2025–6 September 2026) presents six paintings by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard. On loan from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, the works depict everyday life at the turn of the twentieth century. Each image reflects moments of thought, labour or domestic intimacy, offering insight into modern human experience.

Bruegel to Rembrandt: Drawing Life, Sketching Wonder
Bruegel to Rembrandt: Drawing Life, Sketching Wonder (14 March–28 June 2026) presents over 60 Dutch and Flemish drawings from the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, many never before seen in the UK. Featuring artists such as Bruegel, Rembrandt, Rubens and Jordaens, the exhibition explores how drawing was used to record daily life, express imagination and interpret a rapidly changing world.

Troublemakers & Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artists
Troublemakers & Prophets (28 March–30 August 2026) explores art, isolation and unconventional creativity. Centred on the work of Elizabeth Allen, known as Queen, the exhibition presents her handmade textile autobiography, the Autobiraggraphy, alongside works by more than 15 artists. Through textiles, sculpture and assemblage, these artists transform fragments of everyday life into imaginative responses to struggle, belief and social change.

Enid Marx
Enid Marx (18 July 2026–3 January 2027) is the first exhibition to examine the designer’s influence on 20th-century British design. Known for her London Underground seat fabrics and children’s book illustrations, Marx also produced hand-block-printed and woven textiles. The exhibition highlights her collaboration with Margaret Lambert and their Marx-Lambert Collection, exploring overlooked contributions by women designers and the cultural context of modern British craft.

Raqib Shaw
Raqib Shaw (19 September 2026–21 February 2027) presents intricately detailed paintings created using enamel and metallic paints applied with porcupine quills. Drawing on Renaissance, Persian, Mughal and Japanese art, as well as Western literature and Jungian thought, Shaw explores themes of identity and human experience. The exhibition includes The Retrospective 2002–2022, alongside works featuring references to his Peckham studio and his early life in Kashmir.

Nancy Cadogan: The Lost Trees
Nancy Cadogan: The Lost Trees (2 October–22 November 2026) features landscape paintings exploring the cultural and environmental importance of trees. From oaks to orchard pears, Cadogan reflects on memory, identity and loss. At Compton Verney, the exhibition gains local relevance through the visible impact of developments such as HS2, highlighting how changing landscapes affect both the community and the natural environment.

Exploring the park

Compton Verney’s extensive grounds comprise a major part of the visitor experience. The park includes walking trails with interesting diversions built into the landscape including outdoor art exhibits.

Visiting Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park

Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park is located in the countryside around 16km (10 miles) south of Warwick and Leamington Spa and 13.5km (8½ miles) east of Stratford-upon-Avon.

It is around a 15-minute drive from either of these towns. You can also get here by bus route 6 from Stratford-upon-Avon (a 30-minute journey), although this bus does not run very frequently and it is best suited if you’re travelling by car.

The admission fee is fairly pricey, especially if you’re used to visiting free museums and art galleries, but you can get in for half price if you have a National Art Pass.

It is fully wheelchair accessible with provisions in place for both hearing and visually impaired visitors.

Compton Verney has a gift shop plus the Compton Kitchen self-service cafe.

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