Leeds Sculpture Collections
Together, Leeds Art Gallery and Henry Moore Institute have built one of the strongest public collections of British sculpture in the UK.
The collection is on display next door to us in Leeds Art Gallery, where the Institute curates the sculpture displays.
We also oversee the administration and development of the collection on behalf of Leeds Museums and Galleries.
About the collection
Today the Leeds Sculpture Collections comprise over 800 objects and 400 works on paper, as well as our outstanding Archive of Sculptors’ Papers. They narrate the development of sculpture being made in Britain as broadly as possible, representing neglected practitioners as well as established ones.
Works from the Leeds Sculpture Collections are also displayed at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, country houses on the outskirts of Leeds that are a part of Leeds Museums and Galleries.
In recent years there has been a particular focus on collecting conceptual, performance, photographic and other expanded sculptural forms from the 1960s and 70s, which are under-represented in museum collections of sculpture.
What’s in the collection?
You can search the Leeds Museums and Galleries collection online through Art UK’s website.
There are almost 1,800 artworks online in total, including over 900 works from the Sculpture Collections.
Exhibitions
We regularly curate exhibitions featuring items from the Leeds Collections. Find out more about recent exhibitions here.
Helen Chadwick: Artist, Researcher, Archivist
4 April – 4 November 2025
Archive Gallery
British artist Helen Chadwick (1954-96) became known for works which incorporated sculpture, photography and installation to explore ideas of the self, gender and the body.
Archive Lives, Part 2: Documenting Women’s Sculptural Practices in Britain, 1963-1993
25 June – 25 September 2022
Gallery 4
Archive Lives Part 2 presents the work of five women who attended art school in the 1950s and 60s: Shelagh Cluett, Liliane Lijn, Kim Lim, Wendy Taylor and Gillian Wise.
The Sculpture Collections
22 March – 26 August 2018
Across the Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Art Gallery
Celebrating a thirty-six year partnership that has built one of the strongest collections of British sculpture in the world, this exhibition showcases the best of the Leeds Sculpture Collections.
Shop
We’ve published numerous books and essays featuring works from the Leeds Sculpture Collections.
