Art at the Tavistock Centre
Art at the Tavistock Centre
Wander around the hallways of the Tavistock Centre and you will see works of art hanging along every corridor and bold stabs of colour in our public spaces.
Our art collection
Our collection is different from those in older London hospitals and institutions, which have existed for centuries. All of our artworks are modern, with the oldest dating from the 1960s.
Valery Koroshilov – The Traveller
Annable Obholzer – Inescapable Arrangement
Carlos De Lins – Centrepoint Building
The collection began in 1990. Most of the artworks have been lent by artists, many of whom live near our North London centre. Some artists have kindly allowed us to display some of their best paintings, such as Jamie Boyd’s mysterious Mediterranean scenes. These works may have been offered for different reasons: some are too large for private homes or galleries; some were given as a thank you because the artist or their family received care from us; and others were donated because the artists believe in having good art in public spaces.
We were also able to display many excellent works thanks to the Connaught Brown Gallery, which allowed us to select pieces from its storage. This included artworks by Paul Richards and William MacIlraith. Many of Florence Spencer’s outstanding paintings, such as The Red Queen, were discovered stored in a cupboard in her flat by our founder-curator Caroline Garland.
Jennifer Camilleri – Spaghetti Leg
There are many artworks worth seeing in the collection. These include:
- Malcolm Ross-White’s bold and humorous Big Man
- Amanda Welch’s thoughtful paintings
- Annabel Obholzer’s imaginative scenes inspired by myths
- Lucinda Oestreicher’s clean, abstract works
- Austen O’Hanlon, whose paintings show dream-like everyday moments
- Jamie Boyd’s Lion in the Bath is especially popular with both children and adults who see it each week.
We have carefully chosen all the works on display with these ideas in mind. We warmly invite you to come and see the collection and spend some time thinking about it with us.
Art group
Following Caroline Garland’s tenure between 1990 and 2003, the subsequent curators were: Alessandra Lemma (2004–2009), Karma Percy (2009–2015), Louie Oestreicher (2015–2017), Charlene Smith (2017), Jamie Williams (2017–2019), Era Trieman (2019–2022). From 2015 to 2018, the Trust’s artist in residence was Rachael Causer. The current art curator, since 2023, is Mat Zaremba.
Art activities at the Trust are led by the Art Group which consists of service users and staff. A long-standing member is the photography artist Chrysanthi Theodoropoulou who joined in 2017. She has an MA in Philosophy of Art and Art Theory, and a qualification in Forensic Psychology. Her work is based on abstract sculptures that she creates and then photographs. Chrysanthi has exhibited at the Trust a number of times, both solo and in group shows.
One of the members of the Art Group is Professor Eenasul Fateh, artist and trustee of the Tavistock and Portman Charity. Eenasul is a past member of the Tavistock’s Trauma Service, where he was influential in the development of its acclaimed ‘drop-in’ service for patients on the unit’s waiting list. In 2025 Eenasul’s projects include collaborations with: Abbas Zahedi on ‘Begin Again’/‘Support Group’ at Tate Modern (helping make sense of a world increasingly shaped by loss and disconnection); Terra Foundation for American Art/KADIST on the convening and residency ‘Museum as Hospital? A Diagnostic’ in Giverny and Paris (an inquiry into how arts and cultural institutions can function as spaces for healing); Ed Cross Fine Art on ‘DROP IN’ (ongoing series of trauma-informed, pop-up events).
Related services
Creative art therapy
Art therapy supports children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and improved engagement in school.
