Strawberry Hill House painting appeal launched to secure rare Johann Heinrich Müntz work
Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham has launched a painting appeal to raise £85,000 to acquire South East View of Strawberry Hill House by Johann Heinrich Müntz, a rare work that shows the house at a key moment before its Gothic transformation.
The Strawberry Hill House painting appeal aims to secure the work while it is on temporary display, giving visitors a chance to see the painting in the building it was created to record.
Painted between around 1755 and 1758 for Horace Walpole, the work captures the house before the additions of 1759, when the Gallery and Round Tower reshaped its now familiar outline. That earlier view shows the building while Walpole’s ideas were still taking shape.
Müntz, a Swiss artist who lived and worked at the house, contributed directly to that vision. His painting is one of only two known oil works of Strawberry Hill, with the other held at Yale’s Lewis Walpole Library.
The painting has been on display in the Red Bedchamber at Strawberry Hill House since 30th March 2026 as part of a short-term loan. Despite its close connection to the house, it has never previously been shown there, having remained elsewhere after being kept at Walpole’s London residence on Berkeley Street.
Bringing it into the collection would allow the work to be seen permanently in the setting it records, offering a clearer link to the origins of one of London’s most distinctive historic buildings, much like other efforts to present historic artworks within their original settings across the city.
Two supporters, have pledged to match donations pound for pound, doubling contributions while the campaign works towards its £85,000 target. The appeal comes at a time when institutions are also exploring new ways to present artworks beyond traditional gallery spaces, a shift reflected in recent projects across London.
The appeal creates a short window to see the painting in the place it was meant to be, before its future is decided.
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