CAC - Beyond the Bastion
Thu 22 May
|New College Oxford
What art lies beyond the walls of one of Oxford’s oldest and most traditional colleges? Join CAC and local art historian Lizzy Rowe in an exploration of New College and its treasured art collection.
Time & Location
22 May 2025, 10:30 – 14:30
New College Oxford, Holywell St, Oxford OX1 3BN, UK
About the event
Another world behind the walls...beyond the city...
Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham, New College was amongst the first to be designed around a main quadrangle. Today, the college houses beautiful artwork that has influenced what we now know as modern art.
The tour starts in the Ante-Chapel which houses Lazarus, the last major carving by pioneering British sculptor, Sir Jacob Epstein. This unsettling masterpiece depicts a figure, poised between death and new life as Jesus calls him out of the grave. Learn how it came to be at New College after being unveiled in Battersea Park as part of the 1951 Festival of Britain.
As we stroll around the Cloisters and gardens, we will discover intriguing sculptures by Barbara Hepworth, Max Sokol and Austin Wright. After a short walk to Mansfield Road, we will gaze at New College’s most recent architectural achievement - the stunning Gradel Quads (opened…