A long long time ago I turned over an exam paper to face the question: “What is the point of museums?” At the time I was barely 18 years old, obsessed with Botticelli and cringe to think what answering nonsense some poor examiner had to read.
My 62 year-old self would, I think, try to say something about how, in a world of instant gratification, quick win status and fast fashion, museums are the last guardians of long-term thinking, the long form, keepers of memories and the once-loved. Repositories not just of objects but of skills and thoughts. Above all as we move ever faster into the artificial, they are the door-gods to a memory world of what human beings did (and might still do) with their hands.
So it is with enormous pride, and not a little disbelief, that I am able to announce that this year the British Museum have acquired eight of my mezzotints. Receiving public money for art and knowing they are in such an extraordinary museum is huge…it’s hard to put into words just how much it means. I am very grateful to the British Museum and in particular to Dr Catherine Daunt for all she has done to make this happen.
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In Paris La Bibliothèque Nationale de France has purchased further works this summer. This time a sketchbook to add to their seminal collection of artists’ sketchbooks, and another mezzotint to add to the group they already have. I am grateful to the Getty foundation and Print Quarterly for the purchase and as ever to the wonderful curators at La BNF for their continued support and appreciation.
https://www.bnf.fr/en/bibliotheque-nationale-de-france-catalogue-general
Absence – mezzotint engraving 16″ x 16″
“Absence” (above) is one of the my earliest mezzotints. The edition sold out but the V&A in London have added to the 23 mezzotints they already have of mine and acquired the sole P/P (printers proof) for inclusion in their forthcoming John Constable & David Lucas exhibition. I’ve had the great pleasure of talking to curator Katharine Martin about the relationship between Constable and Lucas for some years and am delighted to be included in such a fascinating exhibition. Marking 250 years since the Constable’s birth, this exploration of Constable’s ‘English landscape’ provides a genuine enquiry into the relationship between the painter and his printmaker David Lucas through Paintings, prints, letters and workshop notes. It’s a 20C myth that art happens in glorious isolation; all artists have to work with others sooner or later and the sometimes tender, sometimes domestic, sometimes downright fractious nature of that exchange is beautifully exposed through correspondence offered alongside the paintings and engravings on display.
“Working closely in the final years of Constable’s life, the pair overcame class divides and creative tensions to produce 22 prints that echo the drama and depth of Constable’s original paintings. Bound by a shared reverence for nature, they used the mezzotint process to capture the shifting interplay of light and shade across the landscape.
Featuring Constable’s paintings alongside the prints they inspired, the exhibition reveals how painter and printmaker worked in concert to celebrate England’s rural beauty and secure Constable’s artistic legacy. A contemporary response by artist Sarah Gillespie highlights the ongoing resonance of this masterful collaboration.”
Saturday 15th November – Sunday 14th June 2026
Everything you need to know about visiting the exhibition here
Constable and Lucas at the V&A
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‘The Disappearing Garden Tiger Moth” 4 x large scale charcoal drawings
Closer to home RAMM – The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter commissioned work for their current exhibition WILD
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with the natural history collections at Exeter for some years, so it was a great pleasure to take that one step further and make the four large drawings for their current exhibition. The once-common and very glorious Garden Tiger, Arctia caja has declined 80-90% in the last fifty years – entirely a victim of man-made climate change. As the drawings developed over the months my thoughts turned again and again to the black page – an age-old printmakers recourse for a grief beyond image or words. An idea asking to be revisited in an age of wildlife collapse.
You can watch a short film of me talking more about the commission with RAMM’s Curator of Contemporary Art, Lara Goodband here
WILD is open now and runs until 4th January 2026
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If you are still with me, thank you! Last one now. Museum shows must be like buses and they all came at once this year!
I spent a glorious few days in Bad Homberg, Germany at the Museum Sinclair-Haus last month. With other artists we celebrated the opening of ‘Nachtleben’ (Nightlife) exhibition. Carefully and poetically curated, ‘Nachtleben’ is a thoroughly contemporary exhibition of large format photography, sculpture and film from a number of esteemed European artists. With my group of mezzotints I did feel a little like an interloper from the 17th century…but no time-traveller was made more welcome. I can’t thank the excellent team at Sinclair-Haus Museum enough for looking after us and our works with such care and respect.
Exhibition runs until 26th February 2026 Nachtleben
This has been a long newsletter, I know – thank you for your patience and attention. I am so grateful too for all your support. In these violent and greedy times I’d like to leave you with these words from Irish President Michael D Higgins:
” When we engage with the arts and culture, a strange and magical alchemy takes place, one that can contribute to our well-being, may promote intergenerational connection and the articulation of rights, all of which underscores the need for continued support and celebration of the artists who perform and make cultural experiences. The arts are a crucial vehicle for active citizen participation, engagement and inclusion. It is never acceptable, therefore, that the arts be treated as something peripheral or residual…. We should take great pride in Ireland’s culture and become activists, performers who have confidence in our personal capacity for creativity and cultural exchange.
Casan an roth (the wheel always turns). “
Sarah
All images © 2025 Sarah Gillespie Ltd, All rights reserved.
Such wonderful news, for all of us