Work of art

According to the PCF, a registered charity established to record Britain's complete collection of oil paintings in public ownership, up to 80 per cent of paintings in public collections are held in storage and are therefore rarely seen.

Dr Emma Chambers, Curator of UCL Art Collections, said: "This is an exciting project which will allow us to provide public access to images of the entire paintings collection for the first time. The catalogue will be one of a nationwide series produced by the PCF which will, for the first time, make publicly accessible a colour illustration and description of every painting in public ownership in the UK. This unique initiative ensures that paintings, such as those by prize-winning alumni of UCL's Slade School of Fine Art, are easily accessible to the public, thereby facilitating art history research in the future and meeting educational needs."

The UCLAC includes many works by former Slade School students, such as Stanley Spencer, Paula Rego and Augustus John. Dr Chambers said: "Although we have tried to identify rights owners of all oil, acrylic and tempera paintings in the UCLAC, many rights owners have still not been traced. We are appealing to either the artists or copyright holders of paintings by former Slade School students to contact us so that we can create a comprehensive catalogue."

For further information please call +44 (0)20 7679 2540; college.art@ucl.ac.uk

Image: William Orpen (1878-1931) Portrait of a Girl in a Green Dress.

To find out more about the UCLAC, the PCF or whether you are the copyright holder of paintings by former Slade School students use the links below.

Links:
UCL Art Collections
The Public Catalogue Foundation
Copyright holders document