Art galleries in Warwickshire
Warwickshire has a remarkable concentration of fine art for such a rural county. The collections here range from Dutch Old Masters and medieval German altarpieces to cutting-edge contemporary exhibitions, housed in settings that are themselves works of art and are distributed generously across the region, from Leamington Spa to Rugby, from Nuneaton to the rolling south Warwickshire countryside. Art that’s just waiting to be discovered by anyone willing to look.
Compton Verney Art Gallery
Location: Compton Verney
Address: Compton Verney, nr Kineton, Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ
Speciality: International art collections in a Grade I listed Robert Adam mansion
Compton Verney is one of the Midlands' most distinguished art destinations: a Grade I listed 18th century mansion designed by Robert Adam, set within 120 acres of Capability Brown parkland, and home to six world-class permanent collections. These range from Neapolitan paintings of the Golden Age and British folk art to Chinese bronzes, German medieval art, and the archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean world - a breadth of scope rarely found outside a national institution. Rotating exhibitions bring major contemporary and historical artists to the space throughout the year, while the parkland sculpture trail, café, children's woodland adventure play area and regular family workshops make Compton Verney a genuinely multi-dimensional cultural destination.
Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum
Location: Royal Leamington Spa
Address: Royal Pump Rooms, The Parade, Royal Leamington Spa, CV32 4AA
Speciality: Fine art, decorative art and local history
Situated within the elegant Royal Pump Rooms - themselves a Grade II listed building of great architectural distinction - Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum holds one of the finest regional art collections in the Midlands. The permanent collection includes Dutch Old Masters, British paintings from the 17th century to the present day, and an outstanding array of decorative arts: Delftware, porcelain, glass and furniture that chart the rise of Leamington as a fashionable Regency spa resort. Changing exhibitions bring contemporary artists and themes to the space, while the pump room's original Victorian interiors add a wonderfully atmospheric backdrop to every visit.
MAD Museum
Location: Stratford-upon-Avon
Address: 4 Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6EF
Speciality: Mechanical art, automata and kinetic sculpture
The MAD (Mechanical Art & Design) Museum is the UK's only permanent venue dedicated to mechanical art, and it is an utter delight from start to finish. Packed with ingeniously crafted automata, marble runs, kinetic sculptures, sand-picture machines and mechanical birds sourced from artists around the world, it manages to be simultaneously a gallery, a STEM learning experience and a playground for all ages. The museum actively encourages hands-on engagement - buttons beg to be pressed and levers to be pulled - making it one of the most engaging exhibitions. Equal parts art, engineering and theatre, the MAD Museum is an unmissable stop on any visit to Stratford.
Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery
Location: Nuneaton
Address: Riversley Park, Nuneaton, CV11 5TU
Speciality: Local history, art and the life and work of George Eliot
Set in the beautiful grounds of Riversley Park, Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery celebrates the rich heritage of north Warwickshire and the life of the area's most famous daughter, the novelist Mary Ann Evans - better known by her pen name George Eliot. The George Eliot Gallery is the museum's centrepiece, housing personal possessions, portraits, first editions and manuscripts that illuminate the world that shaped novels such as Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss. Local history galleries trace the town's development from prehistoric times through its industrial heyday, while the art collection spans works by British and European artists from the 18th century onwards. The park setting, with its café and gardens, makes a visit here a genuinely pleasant outing.
Rugby Art Gallery & Museum
Location: Rugby
Address: Little Elborow Street, Rugby, CV21 3BZ
Speciality: Art, local history, Roman archaeology and the World Rugby Hall of Fame
Rugby Art Gallery & Museum serves as the cultural heart of the town, offering a wide-ranging programme of contemporary and historical art exhibitions. Plus permanent displays chart Rugby's history from Roman times to the present day and the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Upton House & Gardens
Location: Banbury
Address: Upton House, Edge Hill, Banbury, OX15 6HT
Speciality: Outstanding art collection in a late 17th century house with 1930s interiors
Upton House sits on the Edge Hill escarpment near the Warwickshire/Oxfordshire border and contains one of the most remarkable private art collections to have passed into National Trust ownership. Assembled by the 2nd Viscount Bearsted in the early 20th century, the collection is weighted towards Old Masters of exceptional quality: works by El Greco, Brueghel, Hogarth and Stubbs sit alongside Brussels tapestries, Sèvres porcelain and medieval illuminated manuscripts. The house's 1930s interiors are among the finest examples of their period in Trust care, while the terraced gardens - carved dramatically into the hillside with a kitchen garden, bog garden and lake - are a horticultural achievement of the highest order. The combination of art collection, period interiors and landscape design makes Upton one of the most rewarding National Trust properties in the region.
Warwick Castle
It is worth remembering that some of the finest art in Warwickshire is not found in galleries at all, but hanging on the walls of the county's great houses and castles. Warwick Castle's State Rooms contain a remarkable collection of portraits, armour and decorative art
Other private collections
The National Trust properties at Upton House, Packwood House, Baddesley Clinton, Charlecote Park and Coughton Court all contain collections of genuine quality, from the Old Masters at Upton to the Catholic devotional treasures at Coughton. While Stoneleigh Abbey and Arbury Hall offer further rewards for those willing to seek them out. Ragley Hall’s baroque interiors house three centuries of paintings and ceramics accumulated by the Seymour family - alongside Graham Rust's extraordinary contemporary mural cycle, one of the most ambitious private decorative painting projects of the modern era.
For a full guide to the county's castles, stately homes and historic houses - and the art, architecture and stories they contain - see our dedicated castles and stately homes article.