Saved: the Art of Football

Our national game has been rarely recorded by painters or printmakers. To kick off a bond between the sport and the arts, the Arts Council staged the 1953 Football and the Fine Arts exhibition, which prompted hundreds of artist submissions. In recent years, JHW Fine Art has presented England’s Glory: the Art of Football, and two further exhibitions on the theme. Some of the artworks on this page were featured in these shows, with many being sold to collectors and museums. The examples here are united on a football theme – on and off the pitch, from parks to stadiums, playing or watching, and embracing the social context of the sport.

The works on this page represent a small selection of our collection. They are not currently available for sale, pending a football exhibition planned for 2026.

MICHAEL AYRTON (1921-75)
Arsenal v. Aston Villa 1953
oil on canvas
41 x 26½ ins (104.2 x 67.3 cm)

MARGARET BAIRD (1891-1979)
Football on the Village Green 1967
oil on board
13 x 17¼ ins (33 x 43.8 cm)

ETIENNE CHAVANNES (1939-2018)
Stade Foot-Ball c.1975
oil on board
24 x 30 ins (61 x 76.2 cm)

DEREK EASTOE (b.1925)
Small Stand Incident 1953
lithograph
11½ x 15½ ins (29.2 x 39.4 cm)

BARRY FANTONI (1940-2025)
Jimmy Hill 1979
watercolour & gouache (grisaille)
18½ x 14¾ ins (47 x 37.5 cm)

CLIFFORD FISHWICK (1923-1997)
Goal 1953
lithograph
13½ x 16½ ins (32.5 x 41.9 cm)

ELSIE GLEDSTANES (1891-1982)
Football c.1935
colour linocut
3½ x 5¼ ins (8.9 x 13.3 cm)

GRAYSON PERRY (b. 1960)
Football stands for everything I hate 1996
glazed ceramic
16½ ins (41.5 cm) high

UMANA
A Game of Football c.1955
gouache on paper
10 x 14½ ins (25.4 x 36.8 cm)

YOSHIMURO UTAGAWA (1830-1885)
Kemari (Famous Places of Kyoto series) 1862
Japanese woodblock print
14 x 9½ ins (35.5 x 24 cm)

VICTOR VASARELY (1906-1997)
Foot (Soccer Player) 1997
silkscreen on vellum paper
24½ x 15½ ins (62 x 39.4 cm)

MAREK ZULAWSKI (1908-1985)
The Goalkeeper 1953
pastel & chalk over lithograph base
19¼ x 21¼ ins (48.9 x 54 cm)