See the Government's Art Collection

The Government Art Collection is owned by everyone and comprises around 13,000 works of art, dating back to 1898. However, the bureaucrats have imposed such punitive visitation rights that it impossible to see much of it. Tours are fully booked until January 2013, when pre-booked tours for established groups might be available, but only thrice monthly on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings, for up to an hour. You would get better access if your paintings were in prison for armed robbery.


However, help is at hand, for this summer some bureaucrats and politicians - including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir John Sawers - have chosen a select few works to be displayed at the Whitechapel Gallery, in a free exhibition in Gallery 7 upstairs.

The works include Lancashire Fair: Good Friday, Daisy Nook, by Lowry, Elisabeth Frink's Homme Libellule II and David Dawson's Lucian Freud painting the Queen, and the exhibition continues until 4th September.

For more information, see http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/government-art-collection-at-work

_{^Picture © Steve Cadman used under Creative Commons^}