The show will open at the Hampstead based venue on the 5th March.
The Burgh House has announced its 2026 exhibition Amongst the Trees and Terraces: Donald Towner, which will be on display to the public from the 5th March until the 20th December 2026.
This is the first exhibition in decades to celebrate the life and work of the Hampstead based artist. The display will span the inter war and post war periods of Donald Towner’s work, featuring Towner’s landscapes, cityscapes and Hampstead views.
Donald Towner lived at 8 Church Row in Hampstead from 1927 until his death in 1985.
A naturalist at heart, he painted the English countryside with quiet reverence while also recording London in flux — including the rubble-strewn streets around St Paul’s Cathedral in the aftermath of WWII. In the postwar years, Towner was commissioned by the British Tourist Board to depict landscapes across the country, positioning art at the heart of Britain’s international image.
This exhibition will include works from Burgh House’s own important collection of Towner, loans from private collectors, many of whom knew Towner personally. Additionally, it will include rarely seen paintings of Hampstead and its landmarks — including links to Towner’s surviving works in Hampstead Parish Church and Louis’ Café.
Meanwhile, the show juxtaposes romantic landscapes with the destruction of war and the rebuilding that followed.
Curator of Burgh House, Amy Miller, comments: “Donald Towner’s work offers us both tenderness and grit — Hampstead’s timeless beauty alongside the devastation and rebuilding of postwar London. This exhibition is not only a homecoming for an artist who lived and worked here, but also a chance to reflect on how art shapes our sense of place and identity. We are thrilled to bring together Burgh House’s collection with rarely seen pieces that shine a new light on Towner’s legacy.”
Talking about the news, Amy Miller, comments: “Donald Towner’s work offers us both tenderness and grit — Hampstead’s timeless beauty alongside the devastation and rebuilding of postwar London. This exhibition is not only a homecoming for an artist who lived and worked here, but also a chance to reflect on how art shapes our sense of place and identity. We are thrilled to bring together Burgh House’s collection with rarely seen pieces that shine a new light on Towner’s legacy.”
To find out more visit: https://www.burghhouse.org.uk/whats-on/whats-on/exhibition/amongst-the-trees-and-terraces-donald-chisholm-towner-1903-1985