Art and collections
We care for one of the world's largest and most significant collections of art and heritage objects. Explore the highlights, our latest major exhibitions, curatorial research and more.
Loaning items to exhibitions
We loan paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, ceramics and furniture to museums and galleries around the world, so they can be enjoyed by millions of visitors. Discover where some of the items we care for are displayed, and find out about the procedure for loaning objects from the National Trust.
Recent loans
National Trust gardens celebrated at the Garden Museum, London
The Trust is lending artworks, books and photographs representing the gardens of Virginia Woolf at Monk’s House, and of Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst, among others. From Sissinghurst, the Trust will be lending Vita Sackville-West’s and Sir Harold Nicholson’s garden tools, which have their initials on the handles.
The exhibition will not only focus on Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West but also on Vanessa Bell and Ottoline Morrell. It highlights how green spaces became places of refuge and inspiration for all who visited them.
Stephen Gardiner on display at the National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Trust is lending a portrait of Stephen Gardiner (1483-1555), Bishop of Winchester, from Oxburgh Hall. Gardiner was a key statesman during Henry VIII's reign and came into contact with all of Henry VIII’s six wives. The exhibition will chronicle the representation of Henry VIII’s queens throughout history and popular culture.
A celebration of Dublin craftsmanship
This exhibition is the first to focus on the production and exchange of gold and silver boxes in late Stuart and Georgian Dublin.
The Trust is lending a late 18th century elongated silver gilt freedom box from Mount Stewart. This box was given to Viscount Castlereagh in 1798 by the Dublin Corporation.
National Trust loans out procedure
Loans to exhibitions are regarded as a significant factor in providing access to Trust collections. The registrar team are happy to advise about the selection and availability of objects for loan, but we suggest preliminary research should be carried out at least a year in advance.
Discover more about how to request to loan an object for an exhibition, which objects are elegible and the processes and policies in place.
Read more about our loans out procedure
National Trust loans out terms and conditions
Loans are approved by the Loans Board, which meets four times a year.
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