Social history through art and painting
11 October 2010 13:54
Those of you interested in art and painting, as well as social history, may like to know about The Public Catalogue Foundation (“PCF”), a registered charity based in London.
The PCF was set up to photograph and record all oil, acrylic and tempera paintings in publicly owned collections in the UK. That includes works in museums (both on display and in store) as well as paintings in council buildings, universities, hospitals, police stations and fire stations. It is estimated there are some 200,000 such paintings in the UK. However, at any one time some 80% of these are hidden from public view, being either in storerooms or public buildings in official use.
The aim of PCF is to improve public access to these paintings by producing a series of affordable colour catalogues on a county-by-county basis. These will later go online allowing the public free access to the works they own. The benefits to the collections are considerable and include free digital images, improved records, an income stream for painting conservation and education, and improved publicity. These benefits come at no cost to the collections, many of which face severe financial constraints.
Each catalogue, which is approximately A4-size hardback, and priced at £35 or thereabouts, contains full colour images of each painting, and, where known, the artist’s name, the title of the painting, the medium and execution date. Also, information about the organisation where the paintings are displayed or stored. The PCF is working its way round the country and 26 catalogues have been published so far.
The catalogue for Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire was published in 2009 and the volume presents 1800 paintings from 77 collections. Paintings in Herefordshire are in Bromyard, Hereford, Kington, Leominster, Ross-on-Wye, and Hereford’s collection includes a large number of works by Brian Hatton.
Please visit PCF’s website - http://www.thepcf.org.uk - where you can find more information and shop for catalogues, also Christmas cards, greeting cards and postcards. You can join as a Friend which offers a newsletter, and discounts on catalogue prices and free postage. You could also become a Patron. Also, if you are searching for paintings by a particular artist, there is a free index of articles for the catalogues Volumes I-XX. All in all, the PCF is a fabulous project to support.
Michael Lever.
The PCF was set up to photograph and record all oil, acrylic and tempera paintings in publicly owned collections in the UK. That includes works in museums (both on display and in store) as well as paintings in council buildings, universities, hospitals, police stations and fire stations. It is estimated there are some 200,000 such paintings in the UK. However, at any one time some 80% of these are hidden from public view, being either in storerooms or public buildings in official use.
The aim of PCF is to improve public access to these paintings by producing a series of affordable colour catalogues on a county-by-county basis. These will later go online allowing the public free access to the works they own. The benefits to the collections are considerable and include free digital images, improved records, an income stream for painting conservation and education, and improved publicity. These benefits come at no cost to the collections, many of which face severe financial constraints.
Each catalogue, which is approximately A4-size hardback, and priced at £35 or thereabouts, contains full colour images of each painting, and, where known, the artist’s name, the title of the painting, the medium and execution date. Also, information about the organisation where the paintings are displayed or stored. The PCF is working its way round the country and 26 catalogues have been published so far.
The catalogue for Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire was published in 2009 and the volume presents 1800 paintings from 77 collections. Paintings in Herefordshire are in Bromyard, Hereford, Kington, Leominster, Ross-on-Wye, and Hereford’s collection includes a large number of works by Brian Hatton.
Please visit PCF’s website - http://www.thepcf.org.uk - where you can find more information and shop for catalogues, also Christmas cards, greeting cards and postcards. You can join as a Friend which offers a newsletter, and discounts on catalogue prices and free postage. You could also become a Patron. Also, if you are searching for paintings by a particular artist, there is a free index of articles for the catalogues Volumes I-XX. All in all, the PCF is a fabulous project to support.
Michael Lever.