THE latest exhibition in the art gallery at this beautiful property near Romsey, on show until May 6, brings together a selection of fine 20th century works from both Southampton City Art Gallery and Mottisfont’s Derek Hill Collection.

Together they show a slice of life – a cross-section of very different ways of picturing the world around us. The show is arranged around five main themes: people, places, work, leisure and war, and features paintings, drawings, prints and photographs by artists from Gaudier-Brzeska, Degas and Sickert to Hockney and Craig- Martin.

In People, we see everything from the delicate realism of portraits by Stanley Spencer and David Hockney to the bright colours and bold shapes of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska’s portrait of his lover, Sophie.

There are stunning landscapes in the room devoted to Place, including the haunting Almost Lost I, a huge detailed drawing by 2011 Turner Prize nominee George Shaw.

War explores a small but intense group of works. William Dring’s portrait of Able Seaman Stanley A Matthews sees both confidence and vulnerability in this young man’s face.

Work and Play contrast the bustling worlds of wharves and harbours, labourers in fields and exhausted dancers with often joyful images of people taking their leisure.

Family activities and a programme of short talks and workshops accompanies the exhibition.

Children will be able to have fun while they hunt for clues in a trail around the gallery, make pictures of their own lives to take home or add to a collage in the galleries in the National Trust house.

n Admission to the exhibition is included in the entry price to the property. £8.10 adults, free to National Trust members.