This article is prompted by a ongoing investigation by the BBC into some 200,000 paintings that belong to the general public as taxpayers. These 200,000 are the culmination of year’s of donations and investments and the works have been painted by a diverse group of people. Some are established artists while others are talented amateurs, drawn from every walk of life.
That number of paintings clearly rivals the collections held by any galleries around the world and the tragedy is that most of these paintings are not in public view. This is the motive behind the ongoing comprehensive effort to document every one of these paintings which will be (and are) displayed on a website at www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/ . That website should be complete sometime in 2012. Why have these paintings been largely unavailable? Well they’re sort of viewable but you’ll have to make the effort to visit town halls, schools and various government offices and taxpayer funded locations to have a glimpse of the art.
There’s a few good examples of beautiful pieces of work and Jock McFadyen’s painting of a piece of the platform at Aldgate tube station can only be seen by visiting the Department of Transport building in Westminster. Original from Scotland, McFadyen has spent much of his career in London and has clearly been influenced by the city.
Jock McFadyen - Aldgate
Another noteworthy painting, this one by French Impressionist Camille Pissarro, is a landscape of the London borough of Acton and if you want to have a glimpse you’ll have to go the local history centre in Ealing.
Camille Pissarro - Acton landscape
One of the more interesting paintings noted by the BBC is by an artist named C. A. Forby. This chap was not just a painter but a fireman during the London Blitz in the Second World War. This was not in fact an unusual situation – an odd consequence of the Blitz was the relatively large number of firefighters who painted scenes from the aftermath of German bombing runs but Corby’s work is little special; he ripped the canvas on which the scene is painted from the roof of a passing vehicle. To see this work you’ll need to go down to headquarters of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue service in Eastleigh.
C. A. Forby - A Quiet Corner of London
We’ve already mentioned the Pissarro and the McFadyen works but possibly the most famous painting in the national collection and one that has been on display since 1965 is Pablo Picasso’s 1925 work, The Three Dancers. This one can be seen all comers at the Tate Modern on the South Bank.
Picasso - The Three Dancers
So hopefully by sometime within 2012, everyone will be able to go online to view this incredible collection and appreciate what until now has only been available to various cicil servants. One might argue that all these works should be publicly viewable in one of London’s many galleries but for now, if you really want to see the item in person, you’ll have to work your way round the council archives and government buildings.