Social Responsibility

 At Philip Mould & Co we are committed to a broad range of social, cultural and environmental responsibilities.

Below are some of our areas of involvement. 

Teaming up with institutions

As part of our commitment to championing and supporting cultural institutions, we have supported The National Portrait Gallery’s redevelopment works on the North Façade of the building.

In a desire to support scholarship and learning in areas related to our commercial activity we have also sponsored a succession of exhibitions in national and regional museums including Tudor Mystery: A Master Painter Revealed at Compton Verney (4 February – 7 May 2023), Duncan Grant: 1920 at Charleston (18 September 2021–13 March 2022), and Cedric Morris: Artist Plantsman at the Garden Museum (18 April – 22 July 2018).

We also collaborated with Tate Britain on the occasion of their British Baroque exhibition (4 February – 18 March 2020) by supporting the restoration of two of the ‘Beauties’ at Petworth House (National Trust) whose legs had been cut off by Petworth’s owner in the late-18th and early-19th century.

Kids in Museums

Philip is President of Kids in Museums, which seeks to make the museum and heritage sector more accessible to children, young people and families. To recognize and celebrate the institutions that have made exceptional efforts to accommodate and engage with children and families. Each year it awards the Family Friendly Museum Prize, the only museum award in the UK to be judged by families.

In his capacity as trustee of a group of Acadamy Schools in Manchester, partly financed by the Laurus Trust, Philip and the company have helped bring reproductions of famous artworks to the walls of its newest secondary schools, and had the opportunity to visit the students and chat with them about art.

Benton End

“Benton End encapsulated a culture and a value system of artistic integrity, individualism and freedom that emanated from a remarkable man and his partner, not to mention the raft of admirers who were drawn to them.”  

- Philip Mould

Philip is a trustee of the Benton End House and Garden Trust, the home and School of Painting and Drawing of the beloved artist-plantsman Cedric Morris. It aims to honour Morris' legacy by transforming Benton End into a vibrant hub for gardening, art and learning. 

Benton End was unique in being an art school in a garden, and it played an important role in LGBTQ+ history. To honour this historic house and garden, a dynamic learning program is underway, drawing inspiration from the interests of Morris and his life-long partner Arthur Lett-Haines. It aims to fully open its doors to the public following funding and development over the next few years.

Charity work

In November 2023, Philip was appointed ambassador for Alison Lapper's charity The Drug of Art, which uses art and creativity to reach young people and to assist with mental health. We celebrated that The Drug of Art officially achieved charity status with an evening event at the gallery alongside Rankin and a moving discussion about the curative powers of art. Philip is also patron of Action for ME, the only charity in the UK providing support to people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.).

The environment

At the heart of our mission lies a passion for preserving the beauty and wonder of wild plants in their natural habitats. Philip was formerly chairman and is now President of Plantlife, The Wild Plant Conservation Charity.

Founded in 1989, Plantlife has blossomed into a thriving community of over 17,500 members and eighty staff and trustees who share a vision for a more biodiverse world of plants in the wild. It works with a wide range of organisations to promote the protection and celebration of our natural heritage as well as globally.

We are also committed to exclusively using Edward Bulmer’s biodegradable, plant-based paint, winner of the Grosvenor Sustainability Awards in 2022.

In 2024, we also joined the Gallery Climate Coalition, committing to the shared goal of 50% reduction in carbon emissions and movement to near-zero wate practices by 2030.

Fostering scholarship

Developed with the mission of fostering scholarship on British art, our Historical Portraits online archive makes accessible over three decades’ worth of PM&Co’s artwork and research records. Built as a comprehensive and fully-searchable database, Historical Portraits has been of great importance for historians, students, and anyone concerned with Old Master painting and modern British art.

Lawrence Hendra is a trustee of The Walpole Society, a charitable body founded in 1911 that is dedicated to advancing the study of British Art through annual publications written by leading experts and scholars from around the world. 

We are also proud to help recent graduates take their first steps into the art world with our three-month internship programme