Art tour through House
House is the main administrative centre of the college, and was the first building acquired by the college when it was founded in 1879. It houses some key artworks in two principal rooms – the Dining Hall, and the Mary Somerville Room.
Start your tour
Find the college map at the end of the main quad, and stand with it to your left, so you are facing …
House
Standing at the noticeboard in the main quad, look towards the Radcliffe Observatory (Grade I listed…
Enter House
Head into House via the door under the archway. Look immediately to your left for the next artwork o…
Self-portrait
Self-portrait, seated in an armchair writing Mary Somerville, ‘with the help of the engraver, Mr Dic…
Mary Somerville, 1844
Mary Somerville in classical attire Lawrence MacDonald (1799–1878) Date: 1844 Medium: Marble Donor: …
Ascend the stairs
Go up the wooden stairs to your left (if you are standing looking at the bust). The next few artwork…
Hilda Lockhart Lorimer
[Need image] Hilda Lockhart Lorimer James Arden Grant, (1887–1973) Date: 1958 Medium: Chalk Donor: V…
Vera Farnell
[Need image] Vera Farnell Hubert Andrew Freeth, (1912–1986) Date: 1951 Medium: Chalk Donor: By subsc…
Daphne Park
Daphne Park Henry Mee, (1955-) Date: 2009 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: The artist in 2009 About the …
Pause on the landing
As you reach the top of the stairs, turn slightly right, and pause on the landing to view the next t…
Ethel A Jones
Ethel A Jones Peter Greenham, (1909–1992) Date: Unknown Medium: Oil on Canvas Donor: Unknown About t…
Mrs Humphrey Ward
Mrs Humphrey Ward Lucy Graham-Smith Date: 1889 Medium: Pastel Donor: Unknown About the sitter About …
Walk towards the Dining Hall
Turn around (to your right) and walk along the corridor towards the Dining Hall. Pause at the sculpt…
First portrait of Louise
First portrait of Louise Jacob Epstein Date: 1932 Medium: Bronze Donor: Unknown About the sitter Abo…
Walk into the Dining Hall
Proceed towards the Dining Hall and enter it.
Portrait of Mary Somerville as a young woman
Portrait of Mary Somerville as a young woman John R.A. Jackson (1778-1831) Date: Medium: Oil on canv…
Madeline Shaw Lefevre
Madeline Shaw Lefevre George Percy Jacomb-Hood Date: 1890 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Unknown About…
Agnes Maitland
Agnes Maitland Herbert James Gunn Date: c.1930 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Katherine Pease, 1937 Ab…
Emily Penrose
Emily Penrose Francis Helps Date: 1922 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About the sitter Ab…
Margery Fry
Margery Fry Roger Fry Date: 1931 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About the sitter About th…
Helen Darbishire
Helen Darbishire William Coldstream Date: 1939 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About the s…
Janet Vaughan
Janet Vaughan Claude Rogers (1907-1979) Date: 1957 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About t…
Barbara Craig
Barbara Craig Michael Noakes (1933-2018) Date: 1974 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About …
Daphne Park
Daphne Park John Whittall (b.1947) Date: 1984 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About the si…
Catherine Hughes
Catherine Hughes Humphrey Ocean (b.1951) Date: 1995 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About …
Fiona Caldicott
Fiona Caldicott Tom Leveritt Date: 2002 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About the sitter A…
Alice Prochaska
Alice Prochaska Richard Twose (b.1963) Date: 2015 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About th…
Jan Royall
Jan Royall Tania Rivilis Date: 2025 Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Commissioned About the sitter About…
Make your way to Green Hall
Return to the wooden stairs by which you came up to the Dining Hall, and head back down them. At the…
Near Auray – Boat on a lake, viewed through pines
Near Auray – Boat on a lake, viewed through pines Roger Fry Date: 1920 Medium: Oil on canvas D…
[Titles]
[Titles] Naiza Khan Date: ? Medium: ? Donor: The Artist About the subject About the artist Further i…
Make your way to the Mary Somerville Room
Exiting Green Hall through the doorway to your right (when facing the Naiza Khan paintings), walk al…
An extensive landscape of river valley and distant mountains
An extensive landscape of river valley and distant mountains Mary Somerville Date: Unknown Medium: O…
View from the windows of the artist’s flat in Naples, and companion watercolour
View from the windows of the artist’s flat in Naples, and companion watercolour Mary Somerville Date…
Wooded landscape with attending cattle in foreground
Wooded landscape with attending cattle in foreground Mary Somerville Date: Unknown Medium: Oil on ca…
River scene with chapel by five-arched bridge
River scene with chapel by five-arched bridge Mary Somerville Date: Unknown Medium: Oil on canvas Do…
St Bernard’s Well, Stockbridge, Edinburgh
St Bernard’s Well, Stockbridge, Edinburgh Alexander Nasmyth Date: Unknown Medium: Oil and enam…
Ariel
Ariel George Romney (1734–1802) Date: Unknown Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: Sir William Bousfield Abo…
Head of St Ursula, from Carpaccio’s Dream of St Ursula
Head of St Ursula, from Carpaccio’s Dream of St Ursula John Ruskin (1819-1900) Date: Unknown Medium:…
A study for Hyperion
A study for Hyperion George Frederick Watts (1817-1904) Date: Unknown Medium: Oil on canvas Donor: E…
View of Tan y Bwlch in the vale of Ffestiniog, N Wales
View of Tan y Bwlch in the vale of Ffestiniog, N Wales William Turner of Oxford (1789-1862) Date: Un…
Tour’s end
You have now completed the House Art Tour. There are two other art tours available for you to try: A…