The Foundling Museum

The Foundling Museum tells the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery. Artists are central to the Foundling Hospital story and the spirit of the institution’s Artist Governors lives on in the work we do, inspiring adults and children to make a positive contribution to society by celebrating the power of individuals and the arts to change lives. The Museum offers a dynamic programme of thought-provoking exhibitions, contemporary art commissions, collection displays and historic archives, plus concerts, workshops, talks and special events.

Poignant artefacts reveal the lives of the children who grew up at the Foundling Hospital, whilst the Museum’s Collection is displayed within beautiful eighteenth-century interiors, reconstructed from the original Hospital building. Works of art by William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds sit alongside sculpture, furniture, ceramics and material relating to Handel, one of the charity's early benefactors. Alongside our Collection, we present a dynamic programme of temporary exhibitions that offer a prism through which to see our historic story and to make creative links across the centuries. Previous exhibitions have explored themes as diverse as the myth of the ‘fallen woman’, food’ and the abandoned child as a source of creative inspiration, and showcased the work of celebrated artists from William Hogarth and Charles Dickens, to Grayson Perry and Cornelia Parker.

We host residencies, support research and initiate collaborative off-site projects with contemporary artists, writers and musicians, working with different members of the community to cast new light on the Foundling Hospital story. Our learning programme brings the Hospital story to life in ways that are meaningful for young people, especially those who are looked after and care-experienced, to help them see the world differently and to imagine new possibilities for themselves. Works of art from these projects are showcased in the Museum through displays and public events.

Explore the intriguing story behind this important London institution and the ways in which artists and children have inspired each other for over 275 years.

Discover more about our Collection: foundlingmuseum.org.uk/collection/
Explore our past exhibitions: foundlingmuseum.org.uk/past-exhibitions/
Plan your visit in-person: foundlingmuseum.org.uk/visit/