With your help

Our exciting journey to provide a permanent public home for the works of the Soper family – Is Achieved.

With the help already given and with continuing help, now and for generations to come this collection will inspire the public of all ages, including professional artists, to be uplifted by and to learn from the styles and techniques employed by this reclusive and remarkable family.

Inspiration will not be confined to art but will extend to cover the many facets of cultural interest displayed by the Soper art.

From one exhibition, an idea was born…

The Soper Collection, comprehensively comprising original pieces in oil, watercolour, etchings, woodcuts, pencil, ink and other media, was compiled by John Baker and his wife Joy.

Following the hospitalisation of Eva and Eileen in 1989, the content of the Sopers’ family home was discovered to reveal a treasure trove of original artwork. After Eileen and Eva’s death later in 1990, their joint wills stipulated that each piece should be sold in order to raise funds for the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution. It was an initial exhibition in Lavenham in 1990 of George Soper’s working horse artwork that captured Joy’s attention. John was insistent that the entire collection should not be broken up and together they arranged to purchase 16 pieces.

The couple continued to purchase pieces as more of George Soper’s artwork was released. Soon Eileen’s work appeared in an exhibition and the Bakers were captivated all over again by the celebration of life and movement that was expressed through her work. They took out a mortgage to enable a collection of Eileen’s glorious wildlife work to be kept together with that of her father.

Sadly, John passed away in 1994 but with the hope that the collection would continue to grow and that one day it would be available for the public to enjoy. Joy continued to purchase the artwork, growing the collection to over 700 original pieces along with a huge array of memorabilia, some purchased and a mass being entrusted by Chris Beetles Ltd.

A Home Has Been Found!

The world’s largest collection of Soper artwork is now housed in its new permanent home, Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby, North Yorkshire, where there is direct connection between George Soper and family and the Whitby area. This wonderful home will, through the works in The Soper Collection, reveal the glories to be found in our gardens and countryside, in our classic adult and children’s literature, in Eileen Soper’s writing for nature lovers and naturalists, and will also reveal the beauty of our English language to adults and children of all ages.