The Ruskin

Future Plans

Our most ambitious capital project since The Ruskin opened will make our collection, programme and research accessible to more people, in our iconic building.

While The Ruskin building is closed, follow the redevelopment project here until the museum reopens in 2024.

Exhibitions

While The Ruskin building is closed, see the collection in London and Lancaster.

John Ruskin in the Age of Science is a programme of temporary exhibitions showcasing The Ruskin’s collections at Brantwood, Ruskin’s house in the Lake District, and at the Royal Society, London.

For more information visit Brantwood webpage

Programme

Join our Schools programmes, learn a new craft skill in our artist-led classes at Lancaster Castle, or join a free workshop for families during the holidays.

Events

Explore the art and ideas of John Ruskin, writer, artist and radical thinker. While we are closed for refurbishment, works from our collection are on display in London and the Lake District.

John Ruskin in the Age of Science

John Ruskin in the Age of Science is a series of three exhibitions at Brantwood, Ruskin’s former home on Coniston Water, and at the Royal Society, London, from April to December 2022.

Exhibition Flyer with title, dates and image of boat under cloudy sky

John Ruskin and the Science of Sight

4 Oct. - 9 Dec. 2022, The Royal Society, London | 26 Oct. - 31 Dec. 2022, Blue Gallery, Brantwood

An exhibition across two sites

From the telescope to early forms of photography, Ruskin exploited developments in optical technologies to push the boundaries of recording the world with extreme visual clarity. Across two sites, this exhibition explores observation and evidence in Ruskin’s works, alongside his scientific contemporaries.

Discover more

Exhibition Flyer with title, dates and image of boat under cloudy sky

Ruskin’s Perspectives: The Art of Abstraction

Blue Gallery, Brantwood | 22 July - 25 September

Ruskin was fascinated by form and pattern, proportion and symmetry, in the world around us. This exhibition drew on a cultural history of maths to explore nineteenth century scientific ideas about the relationship of things and their properties to each other.

Discover more

Explore Ruskin's Perspectives: The Art of Abstraction exhibition catalogue.

Exhibition Flyer with title, dates and image of boat under cloudy sky

The Skies are for All: Ruskin and Climate Change

22 April – 26 June 2022, Blue Gallery, Brantwood

A lifetime of observing the skies led John Ruskin to conclude that human activities were damaging the environment. This exhibition explored how Ruskin’s analysis paralleled the evolution of climate science, and shaped his contribution to defining the Anthropocene: the world we have made.

Discover more

Explore The Skies are for All: Ruskin and Climate Change exhibition catalogue.

John Ruskin in the Age of Science | Google Arts and Culture

The Ruskin is closed to the public during the building renovation.

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Ruskin: Museum of the Near Future

Ruskin: Museum of the Near Future invites you to reflect on how life takes shape and where tomorrow’s world is today.

What's On

On
Now

John Ruskin and The Science of Sight

Tuesday 4 October 2022, 6:15pm to Friday 9 December 2022, 5:00pm
On
Now

Behind the Eyes: Ruskin and The Science of Sight

Wednesday 26 October 2022, 10:30am to Saturday 31 December 2022, 5:00pm
29th Apr

The Errant Castle Symposium

Saturday 29 April 2023, 11:00am to 4:13pm

More Events

Professor Sandra Kemp and Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Schofield stand in front of a bannered archway bearing the words

A celebration of John Ruskin in the Age of Science

Vice-Chancellor Professor Andy Schofield hosted a reception and private view of The Ruskin’s new exhibition, John Ruskin and the Science of Sight, at the Royal Society in London. 
Speakers and groups in academic robes at degree ceremony.

Honorary Doctorates for Professor Dinah Birch CBE and Gabriel Meyer

Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, was conferred on Professor Dinah Birch CBE and Gabriel Meyer in recognition of their contributions to Ruskin scholarship and engagement. 
White text on background gradient of grey to pink. Text reads: ‘… the sky is for all; … and yet we never attend to it, never make it a subject of thought…’. From Modern Painters 1 by John Ruskin

John Ruskin in the Age of Science

Explore Lancaster University’s Ruskin Whitehouse Collection exhibited in London and the Lake District.
Four photos showing children engaged in creative activites.

February Half Term with The Ruskin

Look closely, see clearly, imagine freely: join The Ruskin for free, artist-led workshops for families this February half-term
Lancaster Castle courtyard and buildings.

The Ruskin | Winter Workshops at the Castle

This Winter, join The Ruskin for our series of creative workshops led by artists and makers, in the historic surroundings of Lancaster Castle.
Black and white photograph (daguerreotype) of the clock tower at St. Mark

In Memoriam: Dr James S. Dearden

It is with great sorrow that we mark the passing of Dr James S. Dearden.

More News

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‘One of the most moving buildings of the second half of the 20th century’, Peter Davey.
Family sketch/walk with @jo_blaker!
‘Thus, in a dandelion, the little brown grains... are every one of them a complete husk and seed together’
‘Look closely, see clearly, imagine freely’
A first look at our 2021 commission with Dalia James.