Mary Evans Picture Library Art Galleries

Mary Evans Picture Library began life in 1964, and its core philosophy has remained unchanged for over 40 years: to make available and accessible all the wonderful images created for people to enjoy over the centuries which were originally published in books, on posters, in advertisements, or as prints.

You can visit galleries and exhibitions to see art and illustration from the past, but these tend to be dominated by great works of fine art. Mary Evans Picture Library provides a unique space through which people the world over can enjoy all the 'ordinary' images which display such skill and creativity on the part of the artist, and the style, medium and texture of which defined the era in which they were created.

By making these images available to publishers, broadcasters and designers today, we hope to provide an insight into the past for anyone who comes across any of our pictures reproduced in a contemporary context.

In 2004, Mary Evans Picture Library celebrated 40 years as an independent family-owned historical picture library. While our core values have not changed, our methods of putting them into effect are almost unrecognisable today.

As well as our own collection of images built up over the past forty-seven years, we also represent more than 350 collections on behalf of other picture libraries, photographers and collectors.Below you will find a selection of just a handful of these. They are all wonderful collections in their own right, and each complements our own holdings perfectly.