A giant mural inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers has been unveiled at Westgate Oxford as part of the National Gallery and Global Street Art’s Murals reMastered project, marking the programme’s first installation outside London.
The large-scale artwork has been installed at the entrance to Westgate Oxford, on the corner of Castle Street and Church Lane, bringing a recreation of one of Van Gogh’s best-known works into the city centre.
The mural was created over five days by artists from Global Street Art and forms part of Murals reMastered, a nationwide collaboration between the National Gallery and the mural specialists to reinterpret paintings from the Gallery’s collection as large-scale public artworks.
The National Gallery launched the project in 2026 with the aim of taking works from its collection beyond the gallery and into streets, neighbourhoods and other public spaces across the UK. The Oxford installation is the first in the programme to be unveiled outside London.
The choice of Sunflowers has a particular connection with Oxford. The city is home to the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum, founded in 1621 and recognised as the oldest botanic garden in the UK.
The National Gallery’s Sunflowers, painted by Van Gogh in 1888, is one of five versions of the series held in museums and galleries around the world. The painting is among the artist’s most recognised works and is associated with his time in Arles in the south of France.
Clare Martin, centre director at Westgate Oxford, said the collaboration provided a way of bringing works from the National Gallery’s collection into a public setting.
“Van Gogh’s Sunflowers is recognised across the globe,” she said, adding that the project would help make art and its history more accessible to the public.
Paul Gray, deputy director and chief operating officer at the National Gallery, said the Gallery’s collection “belongs to the nation” and that Murals reMastered was intended to create new ways for people to encounter works from the collection.
The mural’s unveiling on 01 October is being accompanied by a weekend of activities at Westgate Oxford.
On 03 and 04 October, visitors can take part in sunflower-themed craft sessions and contribute to an interactive Sunflower Wishes Wall by writing a pledge to nature on a seed packet. Westgate said the seed-paper messages will subsequently be donated to local community spaces.
The centre is also hosting sunflower-themed installations and distributing flower bouquets and seed packets during the launch weekend.
The mural forms part of a wider programme of public artworks being developed by the National Gallery and Global Street Art across the UK. The National Gallery says the initiative is intended to bring paintings from its collection into new contexts and connect audiences with works outside the traditional gallery setting.
For Oxford, the installation adds a major piece of public art to the city centre while placing one of Van Gogh’s most recognisable paintings in a setting far removed from the gallery in which the original is displayed.
