The Anthony Shaw Collection

Current Display: Seeing with Another Eye

‘Seeing with Another Eye’ is a new display curated by collector Anthony Shaw, combining some of the objects and art works he has lived with since childhood, alongside favourite pieces and exciting new acquisitions. Through this new display in the Centre of Ceramic Art at York Art Gallery, Anthony explores the roots of his collection and its growth and development over the past 40 years. From domestic functional work through to monumental sculpture, the display features an array of important works by influential artists and new emerging talent, including Gordon Baldwin, Gillian Lowndes, Ian Godfrey, Kerry Jameson, Bryan Illsley, Sara Radstone, Nao Matsunaga, James Thompson and many more.

Shaw has been collecting art for over forty years. His collection is on a generous long-term loan to York Museums Trust. Shaw has always felt that his collection is most at home in a domestic environment and he has worked with the ceramist Martin Smith to develop a domestic-style space in which to show his collection within York Art Gallery. Taking the form of two rooms, Shaw places his objects on furniture, between books on shelves, in front of paintings and he invites visitors in to share the experience of living with a collection.

A new publication about Shaw’s collection will be published in spring 2024 to accompany this new display. Also entitled Seeing with Another Eye, the book features beautiful illustrations skilfully staged by photographer Philip Sayer, as well as contributions by Anthony Shaw himself and David Whiting, who set this remarkable collection in its art historical context. The book can be pre-ordered here.

‘Seeing with Another Eye’ is included in York Art Gallery General Admission.