Visionary works of Roger Wagner to go on show at Auckland Palace
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The Auckland Project has unveiled a major solo exhibition by acclaimed artist and poet Roger Wagner at Auckland Palace.
Roger Wagner: The Seeds of Eternity will bring together more than 20 paintings spanning the artist’s career, alongside sketches, studies and poems, in the Bishop Trevor Gallery from 18 February to 31 December 2026. It will be the first time many of these works have been displayed together since 1994.
At the heart of the exhibition are two of Wagner’s most powerful and celebrated paintings — Menorah (1993) and The Harvest is the End of the World and the Reapers are Angels (1989). Visitors will have the rare opportunity to see these works exhibited together for the first time in more than 30 years — and for the first time ever in northern England.
Described by Godfrey Barker in The Daily Telegraph as “an English visionary of genius”, Wagner is renowned for weaving together biblical narratives and contemporary landscapes, inviting viewers to reflect on the mystical and divine within the world around them. Though rooted in scripture, his paintings often subvert expectations by juxtaposing Christian imagery with modern industrial structures or idyllic views of the English countryside.
The exhibition traces Wagner’s artistic development from early works such as Ash Wednesday (1982), inspired by T. S. Eliot’s poem of the same title, through to the monumental canvases for which he is best known today. A selection from his striking Out of the Whirlwind series — based on the Book of Job — will be shown alongside works depicting the story of Elijah, reflecting his enduring engagement with passages from the Old Testament.
Displayed with preparatory sketches and studies, the exhibition offers rare insight into Wagner’s creative process and the evolution of his distinctive visual language. His own poetry, including a sonnet written in response to The Harvest is the End of the World and the Reapers are Angels, will feature alongside the paintings.
Wagner studied English at Oxford before training at the Royal Academy Schools and lives and works in Oxfordshire. His work has featured in the Faith Museum since its opening in 2023, and this exhibition represents a significant moment in bringing his vision to audiences in the North East and beyond.
Clare Baron, Head of Curatorial at The Auckland Project, said: “Roger Wagner’s paintings are both timeless and startlingly immediate. In The Seeds of Eternity, we wanted to bring together works that reveal the development of his artistic vision — from intimate early studies to the monumental canvases that have defined his career. Wagner invites us to look again at landscapes and stories we think we know — it’s a powerful and deeply resonant experience.”
Roger said: “Throughout the exhibition we have placed large finished pictures alongside the early fumbling images that gave rise to them (and some of the poems that became entwined with them), to illustrate my conviction that imagination is a path that can lead us to truth and that following it we may find (in Thomas Traherne’s phrase) ‘the seeds of eternity sparkling in our natures’".
The Auckland Project, based in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, is a unique regeneration charity dedicated to building a brighter future for the picturesque market town through art, history, and culture - from the powerful Prince Bishops of Durham to its surprising ties to the Spanish Golden Age.
Visitors can explore Auckland Palace, the Spanish Gallery, the Mining Art Gallery and Faith Museum, along with its extensive gardens and deer park.
Roger Wagner: The Seeds of Eternity runs from 18 February to 31 December 2026 at the Bishop Trevor Gallery, Auckland Palace.
For more information and ticket details, visit www.aucklandproject.org.
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