Fail We May, Sail We Must

A free exhibition at The Brown Collection of ninety works spanning six centuries that play with double images, spliced collages and deceptive figures.

The Brown Collection presents Fail We May, Sail We Must, an exhibition of historic and contemporary paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints and ceramics unfolding thematically across the museum's four floors. Ninety works by artists including Salvador Dalí, Glenn Brown, John Stezaker, Rebecca Warren, Anthony Caro, George Condo and Fiona Rae can each be perceived in multiple ways, exploring how art challenges and reveals the workings of the mind. The show links modern playfulness with 16th-century Mannerism, 20th-century Surrealism and grand portraits of the 17th to 19th centuries. It runs from 25 September 2026 to 7 August 2027, open Wednesday to Saturday, 10:30am to 6:00pm.