The Collection, though small in scale, encompasses paintings and sculptures of exceptional quality by the key artists who were instrumental in importing and extending the ideas of the European avant-garde to Britain. 

Much of the Collection has been digitised and is available to view on the Pier Arts Centre’s page on ArtUK website

Since Margaret Gardiner made her founding gift “…to the people of Orkney” in 1979, of 67 works of art, the Pier Arts Centre Collection has grown steadily over the years through generous gifts, bequests and carefully researched acquisitions.

Contemporary additions provide new insight into the core collection and create an active dialogue between twentieth and twenty-first century works, offering fresh perspectives and insights into the historic core (and vice versa), helping the collection as a whole, to evolve and develop in enjoyable and stimulating ways.
 
The Collection now contains just over 200 works, with this exhibition offering an opportunity to view a broad selection of acquisitions, illustrating the generative power of Margaret Gardiner’s unfolding gift and reflecting her desire that generations of Orcadians should “…mould and develop it as they wish.”

More information about the Collection can be found on the Collection page.