[nik2000]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/12155026/Revealed-Damien-Hirsts-only-portrait-of-the-Queen-found-in-government-archives.html

[mojo]

Are they 'permitted' to sell their extensive art collection?  I'm sure Sothebys will be happy to auction it without fee's to pay for the NHS shortfalls of the last 10 years as well as the current criminal lack of PPE.

I bet Hirst is cringing this morning ... worst PR ever unwittingly align yourself with Matt Han(d)cock. 

If only it would spin off the wall and smash over his stupid head it may wake him up to the fact that displaying artwork valued at possibly millions of a picture of the richest women in the world is rather ostentatious and inappropriate. In reality 20k+ people have already died from Covid19 in this country (inc care homes and unrecorded deaths) and many thousands more have already run out of money and are starving.

[corbu]

Details of the painting here: artcollection.culture.gov.uk/artwork/18640/

Artist
Damien Hirst (1965 - )
Title
Beautiful Portrait, ‘The Queen’
Date
2014
Medium
Household gloss paint on canvas
Dimensions
diameter: 152.40 cm, depth: 7.30 cm
Acquisition
Presented March 2015 by Victim, a charity founded by the artist Damien Hirst
Inscription
verso (canvas), upper right: Damien Hirst ; lower right: Beautiful / portrait / 'The Queen' ; lower left: 2014 ; verso (stretcher bar): D Hirst
Provenance
presented March 2015 by Victim, a charity founded by the artist Damien Hirst
GAC number
18640

[ab3]

I wondered what that was as well. It looked like a Hirst spin painting, but I hadn't seen one with the queen.

Glad I can always count on the Urban Art Association to answer art questions.

[Bumble]

Apr 17, 2020 12:59:09 GMT 1 Mooncub said:

It's a little known fact that the UK government owns a huge art collection. It buys up-and-coming, contemporary art as well as the more traditional British landscapes and portraits stuff as well. I managed to visit their art storehouse once. It's vast; and that's just the stuff that isn't hanging in government buildings and embassies around the world.

Strangely addictive going through the archive . Found this Warhol (hanging in the British embassy in Washington) 

artcollection.culture.gov.uk/artwork/17714/

[ab3]

Apr 18, 2020 0:09:54 GMT 1 Bumble said:

Apr 17, 2020 12:59:09 GMT 1 Mooncub said:

It's a little known fact that the UK government owns a huge art collection. It buys up-and-coming, contemporary art as well as the more traditional British landscapes and portraits stuff as well. I managed to visit their art storehouse once. It's vast; and that's just the stuff that isn't hanging in government buildings and embassies around the world.

Strangely addictive going through the archive . Found this Warhol (hanging in the British embassy in Washington) 

artcollection.culture.gov.uk/artwork/17714/

Very envious of the Governments art collection. How can I borrow some of these works?

Couldn't find any Bansky's on the first quick scan, but they've got loads of Peter Blakes and a few more Hirst's. Going in for a second look.

[mojo]

If its been paid for with tax payers money it doesn't belong to the government it belongs to the country.
If anything it should be on permanent display in a free national gallery not squirrelled away in the elites personal offices and certainly not in Matt Hancocks home office. Even if a small percentage of the UK's art collection was sold at auction it would raise a small fortune for the NHS & Trussell Trust AKA Food Banks which right now is a far greater priority.

[mojo]

Apr 18, 2020 16:28:05 GMT 1 Atom Gallery said:

Apr 18, 2020 12:47:17 GMT 1 mojo said:

If its been paid for with tax payers money it doesn't belong to the government it belongs to the country.
If anything it should be on permanent display in a free national gallery not squirrelled away in the elites personal offices and certainly not in Matt Hancocks home office. Even if a small percentage of the UK's art collection was sold at auction it would raise a small fortune for the NHS & Trussell Trust AKA Food Banks which right now is a far greater priority.

It was given by Hirst to the GAC and its not his home office. Embassies and the like need decent stuff on the walls surely its good that the government is buying from living artists and making a sound investment. The Queens collection on the other hand......

That doesn't alter the fact that if the Government Art Collection is facilitated and paid for by the tax payer ultimately it is owned by the country, including gifts &/or donations.  I understand that it is a welcome support to artists at the beginning of their careers, however its not much of an investment if once a particular artwork becomes worth a small fortune it just hangs/sits in a government office or embassy only visible to a select few, particularly in a time of national crisis.  There is currently an 8 year old child, Neya Rose, making urgently required PPE masks on her dad's 3D printer and a 100 year old pensioner, Captain Tom, walking up and down their garden raising untold millions towards NHS charities, as well as everybody else inbetween doing their bit where they can.  It seems only fair that a small percentage of the Governments Art Collection (and there is a huge amount of it) is auctioned to raise much needed cash for NHS PPE & Food Banks.