New Hall Art Collection


The New Hall Art Collection is a permanent collection of modern and contemporary art by women artists, at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, England.
It includes over five hundred works by artists of international renown and is now considered to be one of the largest and most significant collections of contemporary art by women in the world. Paintings, prints, and sculpture are displayed throughout Murray Edwards College in Cambridge. The College has no designated gallery and the works are displayed throughout its buildings and grounds. The modernist College buildings were completed in 1965 by Chamberlain, Powell and Bon and are Grade II* listed.
The Collection has come about as the result of many gifts and loans from artists and donors. The Collection started in 1986 with the purchase of Mary Kelly's "Extase" following her stay as artist in residence. This spurred the hope that the College might develop a permanent collection of 20th-century art by women, to inspire the female students who would live among it. In 1992, Dr Valerie Pearl wrote to 100 of the leading women artists in Britain and received some 75 donations in return. The collection continues to acquire works by gifts and loans from artists and alumnae. It is the largest collection of art by women in Europe and about 95 per cent of it is displayed.
On 7 March 2018, the New Hall Art Collection received accreditation from the Arts Council England which recognises the quality of the Collection and the professionalism with which it is managed.
Many of the works are on display to visitors and a self-guided tour is available from the Porters' Lodge.

Collection

The collection includes works by:
In 2005, Maggi Hambling's painting Gulf Women Prepare for War was covered on request of a US Navy officer as a condition of a private booking for the US military. Hambling was reported to be appalled with its censorship. Students and tutors staged a peaceful protest during after-dinner speeches.