The Derek Hill Collection at Mottisfont

An oil painting of Lake Como by the artist Derek Hill

Mottisfont houses a permanent collection of 20th-century art, amassed by the artist Derek Hill. This inspiring collection includes artists such as L.S. Lowry, Barbara Hepworth and Graham Sutherland. You can see many of these works in the Morning Room. There are also smaller, focused displays in the West Corridor, where this year we’re highlighting works by the St Ives School.

Hampshire-born Derek Hill was a talented landscape and portrait artist. He was rich enough to buy the works of painters who had influenced him, and sociable and thoughtful enough to encourage talent in others.

He was a frequent visitor to Mottisfont due to a close friendship with Maud Russell, who commissioned works from him. In 1996, Hill gave his collection of 86 pictures to the National Trust through The Art Fund, to be displayed here.

The collection includes some of Hill's own work, including a pencil drawing of Maud Russell, and paintings of Tory Island. There are also pieces by Modern Movement painters who had inspired him, such as Gwen and Augustus John, Degas, Edwin Landseer, and Georges Seurat.

Sunset in Scotland, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer RA
An oil painting of a Scottish landscape by Edwin Landseer, part of the Derek Hill Collection at Mottisfont
Sunset in Scotland, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer RA

Spotlight on St Ives: the West Corridor

We're now using the West Corridor to create small, focused exhibitions of selected works, whcih will change annually to showcase different themes. In 2018, we’re highlighting works by the St Ives School.

House, Alfred Wallis
An oil painting of a house by the artist Alfred Wallis, part of the Derek Hill Collection at Mottisfont
House, Alfred Wallis

The Cornish town of St Ives became a centre for the modern British art movement from the 1940s to the 1960s. We're showcasing five pieces by artists who created work there: Alfred Wallis, Adrian Durham Stokes, Peter Lanyon, Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth.

The Morning Room

You’ll find most of the Derek Hill Collection on display here, with selected pieces highlighted, including works by Derek Hill himself, and landscapes by Joan Eardley and Edwin Landseer.

Catterline in Winter, Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley
An oil painting of a wintery landscape by Joan Eardley, part of the Derek Hill Collection at Mottisfont
Catterline in Winter, Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley