LONDON.- Christie's presents Close Encounters: Figuration, Painting and Landscape in the Arts Council Collection, organised in partnership with the Arts Council Collection and celebrating this landmark institution in its 80th anniversary year. On view at Christie's London from 3 to 23 June 2026, this curated display will trace a living lineage of British art, where past and present intertwine in a continuous dialogue. To coincide with London Gallery Weekend (5-7 June), the exhibition will be open to the public for extended hours (11am-6pm on Friday and Saturday; and 12-5pm on Sunday).

For eight decades, the Arts Council Collection has shaped the story of British art. Founded in the aftermath of the Second World War, this "museum without walls" was created to support living artists, champion experimental work and make contemporary British art accessible nationwide.

Today, this national resource holds over 8,500 works by 2,400 artists that reflect Britain's changing cultural, political and social climate. By obtaining pieces from major artists like Francis Bacon, Barbara Hepworth and Hew Locke early in their careers, the Collection helps to support artistic legacies while ensuring these works continue to be displayed in museums, galleries, and public spaces across the UK.

Marking its 80th anniversary, Close Encounters: Figuration, Painting and Landscape in the Arts Council Collection will bring together works by David Hockney, Vanessa Raw and Christina Kimeze to explore shifting representations of gender, sexuality, and the body through intimacy, entanglement, and the agency of the gaze. These works challenge normative depictions of desire, opening space for more fluid and embodied ways of seeing. Further works on display by Michael Armitage, Peter Doig and Suleman Aqeel Khilji will consider landscape as a site of memory, displacement, and imaginative reconstruction, where place is felt, remembered, and reconfigured rather than fixed. In parallel, works by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Claudette Johnson and Sonia Boyce foreground the practices of Black British women artists who have reshaped the languages of representation, offering new spaces for interiority, resistance, and play. Together, these works reflect the Collection's enduring role as both a record and a catalyst; one that continues to evolve in dialogue with artists and audiences alike.

Central to the impact of the Arts Council Collection is a sustained commitment to artists. Since 1946, the Collection has played a defining role in supporting many of Britain's most significant figures, including Francis Bacon, Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, Frank Bowling, Sonia Boyce, Claudette Johnson, Steve McQueen, Hew Locke, Tracey Emin, and Sarah Lucas. By acquiring works at pivotal moments - often ahead of wider institutional or market recognition - the Collection has helped shape artistic legacies in real time. This artist-centred ethos remains at the heart of its mission today.

Additionally, the Collection is inaugurating the Arts Council Collection x London Gallery Weekend Under 40 Acquisition Fund. This new initiative will support the acquisition of work from a participating London Gallery Weekend gallery, reinforcing the Collection's commitment to emerging and early-career artists and ensuring continued engagement with the most vital currents in contemporary practice.

Alona Pardo, Director, Arts Council Collection: “We are thrilled to celebrate the Arts Council Collection's 80th anniversary by reaffirming our founding mission: to support living artists and ensure world-class British art is accessible to everyone. We're equally delighted to renew our partnership with Christie's to present Close Encounters, a thoughtfully curated display that traces the history of the Collection, drawing connections between historic works and contemporary practice.”

Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England: “For 80 years the Arts Council has been collecting the work of emerging artists, often long before they were recognised. This far-sighted support for artists has created a great national collection that is shown in galleries and museums, large and small, across the country, reaching audiences that would otherwise rarely see the art of our time. We are delighted to collaborate with Christie's in a celebration that will honour British art and demonstrate the value of public funding of the arts.”

Tessa Lord, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie's London: “Close Encounters reflects Christie's ongoing commitment to championing the power of art as a vital force within society. In partnering with the Arts Council Collection on its 80th anniversary, we are proud to help amplify a legacy rooted in access, experimentation and support for living artists. By opening our galleries to this dialogue between historic and contemporary practice, we are excited to showcase one of the most significant and forward-thinking public collections of modern and contemporary British art.”

Close Encounters: Figuration, Painting and Landscape in the Arts Council Collection forms part of Christie's programme of auctions, exhibitions, and activities comprising the London Summer Season, in celebration of the dynamism and creativity London inspires. Entry is free and open to the public.