Latest news
Discover the latest news and exciting developments from our museums.
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- Leighton House nominated for Best Cafe and Arts Award
- Frederic Leighton's Eucharis, now on display
- Dazzling Dahlias at Leighton House
- More art on display! Collections rehang at Leighton House
- Leighton House redevelopment winner of AJ Cultural Project Award
- His Majesty King Charles III visits Leighton House
Leighton House nominated for Best Cafe and Arts Award
Leighton House is one of five finalists in the London Regional Finals for the Muddy Stilettos 2025 Awards in two categories!
Help celebrate our museum and café by voting for us for:
- Best Cafe (the De Morgan Café)
- Best Arts, Culture & Theatre
Votes close on Tuesday 15 April, with the regional winners announced on 30 April 2025.
Thank you for your support!
Frederic Leighton's Eucharis, now on display
Recent visitors may have noticed a new addition to the walls of Leighton's dining room - the artist's A Girl with a Basket of Fruit (Eucharis), c.1862-3, is on loan to the museum for the following year!
Leighton’s intricate attention to detail and masterful use of light and colour breathe life into this enchanting scene. Shown at the Royal Academy in 1863 and praised by critics sympathetic to the emergent Aesthetic movement, William Michael Rossetti, in a piece for Fraser's Magazine, remarked:
'Girl with a Basket of Fruit' belongs to that class of art in which Mr. Leighton shines - the art of luxurious exquisiteness; beauty for beauty's sake; colour, light, form, choice details, for their own sake, or for beauty's
Frederic Leighton, A Girl with a Basket of Fruit (Eucharis), c.1862-3. Private collection c/o Grant Ford Ltd., UK. Image Jaron James
Dazzling Dahlias at Leighton House
Leighton's Arab Hall was transformed through the flower power of Dahlias, with a spectacular one-weekend only display, curated by florist and garden writer Arthur Parkinson - named by AD magazine as one of the most influential gardeners of his generation.
Famously known for their wide range of flower shapes and colours, the varieties of Dahlias showcased were carefully selected to complement and enhance the rich interiors of Leighton House and their vivid colour palettes. The flowers were home-grown organically, as part of Arthur’s ethos to truly nurture and celebrate nature.
Whilst Tartan dramatically featured raspberry ripple ice cream-coloured petals, Irish Pinwheel , with apricot yellow and light coral flowers and arching petals, stood out against the turquoise tiled walls of the Arab Hall. White and tangerine orange stripes subtly appeared in theTangerine Dream flowers and Verrone’s Obsidian - Arthur's favourite - introduced darker tones with thin black velvet petals surrounding its open honey yellow middle.
Pairing excitable starbursts with fully developed flowers, the beautiful dahlias were joined by raw foliage of sparrmannia saplings, elegantly arranged in vintage glass vases and terracotta pots, on display around the calming fountain in the Arab Hall.
Read the review from The World of Interiors
All in all, it’s an assortment of treasures that Frederic, Lord Leighton – Victorian traveller, collector and artist of renown – would have no doubt found fitting.
More art on display! Collections rehang at Leighton House
Following on recent acquisitions as well as existing artworks in the museum's collection returning home after being on loan, the displays across the historic rooms at Leighton House have been given a fresh facelift!
Including Phillippe Felix Dupuis, Portrait of Frederic Leighton in the Reception display case and George Frederic Watts, Haystacks (Study on Brighton Downs) (1882) in the Drawing Room. Also, two new paintings by Frederic Leighton are now on show in the Silk Room and in the Reception area, on loan from The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.
George Frederic Watts, Haystacks (Study on Brighton Downs), 1882.
Leighton House redevelopment winner of AJ Cultural Project Award
The museum's transformational project, Hidden Gem to National Treasure, led by major international practice, BDP, has won the prestigious AJ Award in the category of Cultural Project.
The judges were ‘… impressed by the skill and subtlety of the scheme, especially how it unlocked spaces and functions, enabling the house to operate more effectively as a visitor attraction while preserving its historic allure .. giving one of London’s most characterful yet hitherto neglected museums an invigorating new lease of life.’
We’re thrilled that the Leighton House project has received this prestigious award against such stiff competition. Its wonderful recognition for the whole team who have worked on it with such commitment over an extended period. Its been truly transformational for the museum and the experience our visitors now enjoy.
His Majesty King Charles III visits Leighton House
His Majesty King Charles III visited Leighton House on Thursday 9 February to celebrate our wonderful collaboration with Turquoise Mountain, the charity founded by the then Prince of Wales to preserve and develop traditional craft practices first in Afghanistan and now also in Myanmar, and the Middle East, to support economic development in these regions.
Leighton House has worked with Turquoise Mountain to produce a unique suite of furniture for the museum's new wing, on display across the reception space, shop and café. The commission grows out of Leighton’s own deep appreciation of the art, architecture and craft he found as he travelled through the Middle East and North Africa. This appreciation resulted in the construction of the Arab Hall, realised through a series of collaborations with artists and makers.
It is an honour to welcome His Majesty back to Leighton House, 13 years on from his previous visit, and celebrate this special collaboration with Turquoise Mountain. Rooted in the history of the museum and our collections, the artisanal pieces add a contemporary twist, bringing identity, individuality and impact to the museum’s new spaces.