Archives & Library

About Our Collections

Since 2015 the Paul Mellon Centre has organised three small displays each year. These are held in the Drawing Room at 16 Bedford Square and are open, free of charge, to the public. The displays usually focus on the Centre’s Archive & Library collections but on occasion they concentrate on subjects and material outside our own holdings. They are organised primarily by the Paul Mellon Centre staff but have also been produced by guest curators.

Alongside the physical display of items in three cabinets, a small pamphlet is also produced. This is available in hard copy in the Drawing Room for any in-person visitors. It is also reproduced online for remote audiences.

Concrete and Controversy: The Architecture of Connell Ward and Lucas


John Cornforth A Passion for Houses


Yale in London, 1977–2016 “A Remarkable Opportunity”


“The Inspection of the Curious” The Country-House Guidebook c. 1750–1990


“The Price of War”: Recording, Publishing & Preserving Art 1939-1945


The Brian Sewell Archive: An Introduction


The Catalogues of the John Moores Painting Prize


Publishing at the Paul Mellon Centre: A Brief History


Supporting the Spectacle: The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and its Spin-Offs


Artists' Letters: Three Stories from the Paul Mellon Centre Archive Collections


Secondhand Daylight: A display by George Shaw


“Painter, Gardener, Scholar”: Humphrey Waterfield, 1908–1971


Modern Art and Publishing between 1935 and 1955: The Peter & Renate Nahum Gift