The Government Art Collection will hold a public exhibition next year
To mark its 125th anniversary, the Government Art Collection has announced that it will be holding two public exhibitions, with one of them in London at the National Archives in Kew.
The Government Art Collection, established in 1899, is a national collection of British art that is displayed in government buildings in the UK and around the world. Originally a purely decorative function, the art collection is now a form of “soft power,” supporting and demonstrating British artists worldwide. It’s often said that new ministers and diplomats’ favourite early tasks when they get their new office is choosing the art they want to be displayed there.
Although a personal choice by the office holder, the art collection is often in the background in official photos and shown off during formal and diplomatic events. Anyone who has ever gone on tours of foreign embassies based in London will be familiar with how they talk about their national art collections as well.
The art collection used to be open for tours of the archive, but that stopped some years back when they moved to a new building. So, next year, two exhibitions will showcase some of the collection for the public.
Artworks to be displayed at Bradford Council’s Cartwright Hall Art Gallery have been selected by young people from across the district.
A second exhibition, opening in May 2025 at The National Archives in Kew, southwest London, will showcase pieces commissioned to mark His Majesty The King’s Coronation in 2023.
At Kew, artwork by leading British and British-based artists will be displayed, including Vanley Burke, Joy Gerrard, Sophie Gerrard, Mohamed Hassan, Dale Lewis, Hew Locke, Cornelia Parker and Leslie Thompson.
The full details of the exhibition will be released closer to the date.
Since 2020, the Government Art Collection has focused on supporting artists at all stages of their career from across the UK. Since 2020, over 100 artists and 200 artworks have entered the Collection.
The list of acquisitions and the government office exhibitions they put on are here.
Good idea, seeing as we the taxpayers funded them.
I have previously read that a significant number of artworks from the collection have gone missing.
Christmas boxing day
Tell you what, Ian: how about dropping the “His Majesty the..” malarkey? The age of deference to an acutely dysfunctional, obscenely wealthy family of parasites on the body politic is well date-expired. Me, I’d prefer the phrase Charles the Last.
If you have a problem with official titles being used in news sources, you may be too sensitive for The Internet. Touch grass.