Collecting & Enjoying Modern British Art

Howgill Tattershall is now a well-established gallery; we have been going for more than a decade. We specialise in Modern British art of the 19th and 20th centuries, including pieces in oil, acrylic, pastel and black and white. We offer carefully-selected and competitively-priced work by a range of Modern British Artists.

What we are not so good at, is maintaining and updating our website. There never seems to be enough time! So, we do have to beg the pardon of those of you who have tried to make contact or pass comment on works you might have seen on social media, whilst also thanking friends and customers who have continued to be interested in the art that we love to show and sell to you. Our aim, now, is to take better advantage of communicating via Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and (coming soon!) Instagram. As you might have guessed, we have now been able to engage the interest of younger partners and we must follow their example!

Howgill Tattershall is run by Hilary Taylor and Peter Vickers. Hilary is an art historian, specialising in British art of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Peter is an award-winning designer. For the past 30 years and more, we have had the privilege of working on many historic, designed landscapes around the country – researching, conserving, restoring and developing: the layout of parks and gardens is, after all, one of Britain’s most important cultural expressions. During all this time, we have also enjoyed looking at, buying, hanging, researching and thinking about art that has been produced in the British Isles, especially over the last couple of centuries.

The phrase, 'Modern British’ art, has been much used to signify a wide range of artistic practice, often confined to that period between c.1920 and 1960 - but Modern British art is nothing if not flexible. We include works with deep roots in the Victorian period, or work of the kind shown at the New English Art Club, or more reflective or experimental work. We are excited by the distinctively Scottish, 'Glasgow Boys' (and Glasgow Girls) and post-War Scottish Colourists. We celebrate the Celtic roots and ancient landscapes of Wales or Ireland. We love to explore a wide range of subject matter, from portraits to landscapes, still-life paintings to images of industrial and post-industrial Britain, celebrations of community to reflections on isolation. Our collection embraces the work of many artists who are women or from an ethnic minority. We are always looking for pieces which emerge from a British society which is wonderfully diverse, eclectic and enthusiastic about tomorrow.

The devil of British Art, then, is in the detail. British art rarely reveals its all on first acquaintance. But, when one lives with it for a while, it persists in communicating with us, it can challenge and prompt new ideas, it can be reassuring and familiar. It can offer colour and texture which excites and sparkles, or which soothes and demands close inspection. It can create a space and a mood. It can even be that bit of grit in our shoe. All of life is here.