Artscape is turning the town of Bridgwater into an open-air gallery. This unique public art trail features high-quality reproductions of some of the most iconic artworks from the National Gallery in London, generously donated to the project to help bring culture directly into the heart of the community.
But Artscape is more than just an art display. It’s a creative vision born out of Seed’s desire to surprise and delight local people in their everyday lives. Whether you’re walking to work, waiting at a bus stop, or popping into a café, you might suddenly find yourself face to face with a Turner, a Van Gogh, or a Botticelli.
By removing art from the traditional gallery setting and placing it in everyday locations, Artscape invites moments of reflection, connection, and wonder where people least expect it. The idea is simple but powerful: to make world-class art a part of daily life, with no ticket required!
The project draws inspiration from the National Gallery’s 2007 “Grand Tour” and continues its spirit of accessibility and cultural inclusion. Seed has brought that concept to Somerset, reimagining Bridgwater as a canvas where people can engage with masterpieces on their own terms.
Artscape seeks to reimagine everyday public spaces as captivating galleries, bringing high-quality replicas of iconic masterpieces from renowned artists to everyday life
Imagine strolling through a park and encountering a vivid reproduction of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers or entering a post office and finding yourself face-to-face with a Turner.
The replicas from The National Gallery, were meticulously crafted to capture the essence of the originals to bring art out of the confines of the gallery and into the lives of the public. giving access to culture and creativity. By making masterpieces accessible in unexpected places, Artscape hopes to bridge the gap between art lovers and those who might not usually visit galleries, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary!
See the gallery below for all the masterworks featured in Artscape. Click on each image for more information and full-resolution downloads.
What 3 words: swaps.devoured.grocers
TA6 3RH, on the rear wall of the garages of West Bow House
90.7 × 121.6 cm
The painting depicts the 98-gun HMS Temeraire, one of the last second-rate ships of the line to have played a role in the Battle of Trafalgar, being towed up the Thames by a paddle-wheel steam tug in 1838, towards its final berth in Rotherhithe to be broken up for scrap
What 3 words: clothed.boards.magnets
92.1 × 73 cm
The fourth version of the painting was attacked on October 14, 2022 by environmental activists from the Just Stop Oil campaign, who threw tinned tomato soup at it, while it was on display at National Gallery in London, before gluing their hands to the wall.
What 3 words: skins.assume.slowly
Side of the community hall TA6 6DE
82.2 × 60 cm
An oil painting on oak panel by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck, dated 1434. It is a full-length double portrait, believed to depict the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, presumably in their residence at the Flemish city of Bruges.
What 3 words: companies.ballroom.hospitals
179.7 × 81.9 cm
A saint clad in shining armour raises his sword to strike a hideous demon beneath his feet. This is the Archangel Michael fighting the devil, as described in the Book of Revelation.
What 3 words: wide.wobbles.diverged
176.5 × 191 cm
Bacchus, god of wine, emerges with his followers from the landscape to the right. Falling in love with Ariadne on first sight, he leaps from his chariot, drawn by two cheetahs, towards her.
what 3 words: suave.wisdom.froth
88.3 × 93.1 cm
In 1893 Monet bought a plot of land next to his house in Giverny. He had already planted a colourful flower garden, but now he wanted to create a water garden ‘both for the pleasure of the eye and for the purpose of having subjects to paint’
what 3 words: brick.converter.speeding
The title, The Hay Wain, refers to the wooden wagon (wain) used for transporting cut and dried meadow grass (hay). The empty wagon is making its way through the shallow water to cross to the meadow on the other side where haymakers are at work.
What 3 words: nightlife.date.waged
91 × 75 cm
This is one of dozens of self portraits by Rembrandt. We see the artist in confident pose – self-assured, dressed in expensive-looking fur and velvet, his hat laced with jewels.
What 3 words: confined.
number.riverside
103.5 × 98.5 cm
The ungainly but authentic-looking pose makes it easy to believe that Degas was present in the woman’s room, catching her before she could straighten herself.
91.5 × 106.7 cm
This is a late work by Caravaggio, probably painted towards the end of his life. He has reduced the story to its essentials, focusing on the human tragedy and conveying the scene’s emotional power through a restricted range of colour, pronounced chiaroscuro and dramatic gesture.
Westonzoyland Road TA6 5BP
69.8 × 119.4 cm
This portrait of Mr Robert (1725–1806) and Mrs Frances Andrews (about 1732–1780) is the masterpiece of Gainsborough’s early career. It has been described as a ‘triple portrait’ – of Robert Andrews, his wife and his land.
What 3 words: level.umpires.albums
179.1 × 82.6 cm
This elegant young woman is Christina of Denmark, the youngest daughter of King Christian of Denmark. In 1538, King Henry VIII of England was looking for a fourth wife, after the death of Jane Seymour the previous year. As Henry’s official court artist, Holbein was sent to Brussels to capture the 16-year-old Christina’s likeness.
What 3 words: clouds.cursing.factually
51.7 × 45.2 cm
The young woman at the keyboard holds our eye with a direct gaze. The empty chair suggests she is expecting someone and the large painting of a naked Cupid, the god of erotic love, on the wall behind her may be a signal that she is waiting for her lover.
What 3 words: assures.stems.fatherly
69.2 × 173.4 cm
Venus, the goddess of love, looks over at her lover Mars. She is alert and dignified, while he – the god of war – is utterly lost in sleep. He doesn‘t even notice the chubby satyr (half child, half goat) blowing a conch shell in his ear.
What 3 words: confined.number.riverside
161.7 × 149.9 cm
This is one of perhaps only three surviving panel paintings by the great Florentine artist Michelangelo.
What 3 words: sketch.specifies.backed
146.1 × 116.2 cm
Venus, goddess of love, steals an arrow from her son Cupid’s quiver as she kisses him on the lips.
The picture was probably sent to King Francis I of France as a gift from Cosimo I de’ Medici, ruler of Florence, who employed Bronzino as a court painter.
Bowerings Animal Feeds Provender Mill Docks, Bridgwater TA6 3EX
112.9 × 149 cm
According to the legend, Saint Ursula, a Christian princess from Britain or Brittany, made a holy pilgrimage to Rome with 11,000 virgins. Dressed in yellow and holding a flag with a red cross, Ursula watches her companions embark on their return voyage. They carry bows and arrows, weapons that represent their death later in the story.
What 3 words: bachelor.octagon.forgives
72.1 × 90.9 cm
Van Gogh painted several versions of A Wheatfield, with Cypresses during the summer of 1889, while he was a patient in the psychiatric hospital of Saint-Paul de Mausole, in the village of St-Rémy in the south of France.
In June 2007 full-size reproductions of some of the National Gallery’s best loved paintings appeared overnight on the streets of London.
Taking inspiration from the project we want people to be able to enjoy these artworks without having to travel to London, to bring the artwork to Bridgwater. Offering the chance to pique the public’s curiosity and creativity in the way that art can.