Russell-Cotes

Reading the Room: Domestic Interiors in Art

9 June 2026–3 January 2027

This exhibition explores the relationship between people and the space they create and inhabit. Interiors reflect daily routines, rituals, aspirations, as well as aesthetic choices. Some interiors may be imaginary, a jigsaw of compiled elements from across different rooms, and some may be closer to the truth.

For centuries, domestic interiors appeared in artworks primarily as tasteful backgrounds, yet artists have long been drawn to the familiar atmosphere of lived spaces: the stillness of a bedroom, the darkness of a corridor, or warmth of a living room fireplace. Such intimate details can be found in artworks as early as the Renaissance, but it was not until the seventeenth century that the domestic interior emerged as a subject in its own right.

Drawn largely from Victorian and Edwardian tastes, this exhibition brings together representations of domestic interiors from a Western European perspective.

These spaces reveal more than changing fashions and social customs; they also reflect the lives of the people who inhabited them. They invite us to imagine who gathered around the fireplace, who stood at the window looking outward, and who concealed personal belongings and secrets within cupboards and wardrobes. Just as importantly, these interiors can hint at who was excluded or unwelcome within these spaces.

This mini-exhibition is included in your admission ticket. It is in the Print Room, which is upstairs in the historic house. Unfortunately it is therefore only accessible by stairs, there is no lift access to the upstairs of the historic house.

Click here to access Slow Looking Audio Guides to accompany this exhibition.