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The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...
(DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and around the world, and to promote British art, culture and history. The GAC now holds over 14,000 works of art in a variety of media, including around 2,500 oil paintings, but also sculpture, prints, drawings, photographs, textiles and video works, mainly created by British artists or artist with a strong connection to the UK, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Works are displayed in several hundred locations, including
Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk ...
, ministerial offices and reception areas in
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament ...
, regional government offices in the UK, and diplomatic posts outside the UK.


History

The GAC dates its establishment to 5 December 1899, when Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher,
Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...
to the Office of Works, wrote to Sir Francis Mowatt, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, proposing to spend £150 to acquire five painting for the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...
, arguing that the expenditure would save a greater amount of money that would otherwise be spent on decorations. Up to the late 19th century, government ministers and ambassadors could decorate their rooms with their own personal art collections, but the GAC became more important as the social background of people holding government posts changed into the 20th century meant that could no longer be expected. In 1935, an annual "picture fund" of £250 was authorised by
HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...
to buy artworks to decorate diplomatic posts outside the UK, with advice from an "Overseas Picture Committee" including the directors of the major public London collections at the
National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
, the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
, and the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...
. Initially, most of the works it acquired were historical portraits, such as a portraits of Charles II by Thomas Hawker, and of
James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...
by Godfrey Kneller. As well as buying works, the GAC has also received many significant donations, some direct from the artist. The first curator of the collection, Richard Perry Bedford, was appointed in 1946; he was succeeded in 1949 by Richard Walker, who served until 1976, and expanded the collection from several hundred to over 8,000 works. The GAC expanded its remit to include more modern works: its first work by a living artist was ''Ripe Corn'' by John Nash, acquired in the 1940s; and John Piper was commissioned to create new works for the British embassy in Rio de Janeiro in 1949. By the 1970s, the GAC's modern artworks outnumbered the historical works. Dr Wendy Baron served as the director of the GAC from 1978 to 1997, and then
Penny Johnson Penelope Jane Johnson CBE (born 23 June 1956) has been Director of the Government Art Collection since 1997. She was educated at St. Helen's School, the University of East Anglia (BA, 1978) and the University of Manchester.‘JOHNSON, Penelope J ...
. The collection was named the "Government Art Collection" in 1981. Other government bodies hold their own collections, distinct from the GAC. For example, the
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
had a separate art collection, which was dispersed to other public galleries and collections, including some to the GAC, in 2017.Ministry of Defence art collection
gov.uk


Collection

The collection includes works by many well-known British artists of the 17th and 18th centuries, including works by or after Peter Lely, Godfrey Kneller, James Thornhill,
William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-lik ...
and John Constable, Victorian artists such as William Powell Frith and Lucien Pissarro, 20th century artists such as John Nash and Paul Nash, Laura Knight, L.S. Lowry,
Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a lea ...
,
Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in Norwood, London ...
, Lucian Freud, Peter Blake, Eduardo Paolozzi,
David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...
and Elisabeth Frink, and more contemporary artists such as
Emma Kay Emma Kay (born 1961) is a British artist working with subjectivity and memory. Biography Kay studied art at Goldsmiths College, working toward a bachelor's of arts degree from 1980 to 1983 and a master's of arts degree from 1995 to 1997. Her earl ...
, Zarina Bhimji, Yinka Shonibare, Michael Landy,
Grayson Perry Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "pr ...
,
Chris Ofili Christopher Ofili, (born 10 October 1968) is a British Turner Prize-winning painter who is best known for his paintings incorporating elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists. Since 2005, Ofili has been living and working in Tri ...
, Lubaina Himid, Rachel Whiteread, Damien Hirst and
Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...
. The oldest work is a portrait of
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
dated to between 1527 and 1550. The collection also includes prints of cartoons by artists such as
James Gillray James Gillray (13 August 1756Gillray, James and Draper Hill (1966). ''Fashionable contrasts''. Phaidon. p. 8.Baptism register for Fetter Lane (Moravian) confirms birth as 13 August 1756, baptism 17 August 1756 1June 1815) was a British caricatu ...
, George Cruikshank and
Victor Weisz Victor Weisz (25 April 1913 in Berlin, Germany – 23 February 1966 in London, England) was a German-British political cartoonist, drawing under the name of Vicky. Biography Weisz was born in Berlin, Germany, to Hungarian-Jewish parents. He stu ...
, and
Punch magazine ''Punch, or The London Charivari'' was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 1850s, when it helped to coi ...
caricatures by Carlo Pellegrini ("Ape") and Sir Leslie Ward ("Spy"). Around two-thirds of the collection is on display in government buildings, with some items loaned for exhibitions, and the remainder at its premises in central London for conservation or awaiting re-display. Until 2020, the main premises were in Queen's Yard off
Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road ...
, but there were plans to move to new premises in Whitehall in 2020.The Government Art Collection
fco.gov.uk, 17 August 2018
Wherever possible, the GAC lends works of art to exhibitions in public museums and galleries throughout the UK and abroad. The GAC also collaborates with other departments, such as the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in commissioning new works of art. The GAC has two casts of a bust of Winston Churchill, by Jacob Epstein, one of which has been loaned to the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...
twice. At the Home Office building in central London, the GAC commissioned a programme of public art by seven contemporary artists, and new commissions for its interior spaces. In 2005, new works of art were commissioned for the Deputy High Commissioner's offices in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...
(formerly
Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...
); and for the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
Office at
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. Commissions were completed in the DCMS between 2006 and 2007 and at the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...
(previously Department for Constitutional Affairs) in 2009 and in London. Works of art continue to be added to the collection. In 2008, the GAC received £551,000 each year from the government, a sum that includes an acquisition budget of £220,000.


Advisory Committee

Purchases and commissions are made with the support and agreement of the Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection, whose members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Advisory Committee is currently chaired by Sir David Verey and comprises five ''ex officio'' members (the Directors of the National, National Portrait and
Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
Galleries, as well as the Director of the GAC and a senior civil servant from the DCMS), together with several additional independent members. File:Elizabeth I Unknown Artist c 1575 v 2.jpg, Portrait of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...
, c.1585-1595, in the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. File:James II (Kneller).jpg, Portrait of
James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...
by Godfrey Kneller, 1683, in the British Embassy in The Hague File:James Thornhill - Judgement of Paris.jpg, ''The Judgement of Paris'' by James Thornhill, 1704–1705, at Lancaster House File:Battle of Blenheim - Joshua Ross jr.jpg, '' Battle of Blenheim'' by Joshua Ross, 1715, at the Cabinet Office File:Ada Lovelace.jpg, Portrait of
Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace ('' née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the ...
by Margaret Sarah Carpenter, 1836, in Downing Street File:William Powell Frith The crossing sweeper 1893.jpg, Updated version of '' The Crossing Sweeper'' by William Powell Frith, 1893, in storage File:Venice, fog blowing up from the Adriatic.jpg, ''After Turner: Venice, Fog Blowing up from the Adriatic'', watercolour by Alfred East, at Lancaster House


See also

* Government Wine Cellar * Parliamentary Art Collection * Royal Collection


References


External links

*{{Official website, artcollection.culture.gov.uk Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Arts in England Art collections in the United Kingdom