Exhibitions

Bowes Museum

The Bowes Museum offers an ongoing programme of exhibitions to complement the display of its permanent collection. These range from major blockbusters often curated by staff, here at the Museum, to touring exhibitions and works on loan from other institutions.

Browse our Exhibitions

Kith and Kinship: Norman Cornish and L. S. Lowry

Framing Fashion: Art and Inspiration from a Private Collection of Vivienne Westwood

Kinetic Arboretum in its new home in the Wildflower Meadow

Kinetic Arboretum (2018), Martin Smith

Michael McCormack

Three people interacting in a museum gallery, looking at a historical object as it's being cleaned for display.

OBJECTS ON THE MOVE

Future Exhibitions

Painting of a serene landscape with a woman (Joséphine Bowes) seated in the foreground, holding flowers on a shaded path surrounded by greenery. In the background, a large white house (Chateau du Barry) is visible across a reflective pond, framed by trees and greenery. The 19th century painting is called ‘Chateau du Barry at Louveciennes’ by Joséphine Bowes.

FROM JOSÉPHINE BOWES: Trendsetters and Trailblazers

A 19th-century portrait of a seated woman in an elegant white dress adorned with a pink ribbon, wearing a red headscarf. She rests one arm on a decorative table holding a vase of roses and an open book. The background features ornate furniture and wallpaper.

JOSÉPHINE: A Woman of Taste and Fashion

A smiling woman with short curly hair and glasses, wearing a pink and gray sweater and a turquoise scarf, holding two fluffy gray cats on a wooden table.

Pippa Hale: Pet Project

An illuminated text installation reading ‘YOU CREATE WHAT YOU WILL’ in front of a church at night. Gravestones are scattered across the foreground in a grassy churchyard, and bare trees frame the scene.

YOU CREATE WHAT YOU WILL (2014), Nathan Coley

A detail shot of a Guard’s Jacket with a tailored structure, made of red fabric with a metallic button attached. The button has an intricate engraved monogram design.

DRESSED FOR DEPARTURE: Fashion in the Age of Rail

Past Exhibitions

Past Exhibitions

Past Exhibitions

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