Passports: Great Early Buys from the British Council Collection

Artist Michael Craig-Martin selects modern masters for the first display, in an exhibition supported by specialist insurer Hiscox, displayed in the newly restored 19th century ‘museums gallery’ in the expanded Whitechapel Gallery which provides unprecedented public access to important art collections.

The British Council Collection is one of the most impressive public collections of 20th century British art in the world with over 8,500 works  The first selection is made by artist Michael Craig-Martin who has chosen to focus on the Collection’s great strengths – buying from artists at early stages in their careers and showing works of art internationally.  The exhibition provides the price paid for each and a ‘passport’ of where they have been shown across the world, providing a unique insight into the Collection’s international purpose.  

The exhibition of British 20th and 21st century art  includes Lucian Freud’s early masterpiece, Girl with Roses (1947 -8), a psychologically charged portrait of the artist’s first wife Kitty.  The work has travelled to more than 25 countries and featured in over 80 exhibitions since it was acquired for £157 in 1948.  A rare early carving in Cumberland alabaster by Henry Moore called Girl with Clasped Hands (1930) is shown next to Bridget Riley’s first major painting in colour, Cataract 3 (1967).  Peter Doig’s Hill Houses, 1990 - 91 was bought by the British Council after he won the Whitechapel Artists’ Award in 1991 at the very beginning of his career.  The exhibition also includes key works by David Hockney, Gilbert & George, Paul Nash and Ben Nicholson, as well as later works by artists such as Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili and Sarah Lucas.

Following on throughout 2009, three further guest curators will present displays drawn from the Collection.  The fifth and final exhibition will be the result of an international competition, which the British Council and the Whitechapel Gallery are organising to provide an opportunity for aspiring curators worldwide.

2009 marks the 75th Anniversary of the British Council, and the series of exhibitions at the Whitechapel Gallery celebrates one of the UK’s most acclaimed cultural organisations.

Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director, Whitechapel Gallery, said, ‘The British Council Collection is a jewel, and tells the story of British art over the last 100 years.  The Whitechapel Gallery is delighted to be able to show these important works to the British public, many for the first time in the UK.’

Martin Davidson, Chief Executive of the British Council, said ‘The British Council Collection forms part of a unique reflection on the way we see ourselves and how we relate to others, bringing alive the shared culture and values of the UK for audiences overseas. Now in our 75th year we are thrilled that UK audiences will have the opportunity to see a significant proportion of our Collection at the Whitechapel Gallery in the coming year.’

The British Council Collection displays will be presented in the Whitechapel Gallery’s new dedicated gallery, a beautiful original Victorian exhibition space flooded with natural light through a glazed ceiling. It will provide unprecedented access to important public, private art collections and important artists’ holdings which are rarely seen, presented to the public for a minimum of one year.

The British Council Collection spans the 20th Century and includes works by early modern  masters such Stanley Spencer, Wyndham Lewis, Paul Nash and Walter Sickert, Barbara Hepworth, Graham Sutherland, Henry Moore and Ben Nicholson. Post-war it includes, among others, artists from the School of London; painters from St Ives and from the Kitchen Sink groups; exponents of the New Generation in the 1960s; conceptual and experimental artists such as Gilbert & George and Richard Long; the New British Sculptors of the 1980s, including Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor. Tracey Emin, Gary Hume, Damien Hirst, Mark Wallinger and Sarah Lucas are among the YBA generation represented and artists including Jeremy Deller, Douglas Gordon, Tomma Abts and Roger Hiorns bring the Collection up to the present day.

 Notes for Editors

• First formed in 1934 as a voluntary organisation The British Council works in over 100 countries and territories worldwide to build intercultural understanding between the UK and other countries through the arts, education and training, science and technology, sport, and good governance. first art acquisitions date to 1938, when a small legacy enabled the British Council to purchase a group of works on paper. Since then it has acquired more than 8000 works spanning the late 19th to the early 21st Century. Many of the artists included in the Collection gained important international exposure and reputation through the work of the British Council – through exhibitions, grants, study visits overseas, lecture trips and displays in prominent venues worldwide.
• The British Council Collection displays at the Whitechapel Gallery are organised by Diana Eccles, Head of Collection, The British Council Collection, and Andrea Tarsia, Head of Exhibitions, Whitechapel Gallery.
• Passports: Great Early Buys, a fully illustrated catalogue of 50 works from the British Council Collection accompanies the exhibition. 
• The presentation of the British Council Collection is supported by specialist insurer Hiscox which has a long and established association with contemporary art and was one of the first UK insurers to offer art insurance as a stand-alone policy for private collectors, museums and galleries. Hiscox’s sponsorship of presentations of great collections underlines its commitment to promoting and protecting the very best in contemporary art.  

Press Information

For further press information please contact:

Rachel Mapplebeck on 020 7522 7880, 07811 456 806 or email

RachelMapplebeck@whitechapelgallery.org

Elizabeth Flanagan on 020 7522 7871 or email

ElizabethFlanagan@whitechapelgallery.org

For further press information regarding the British Council, contact:

Eleanor Hutchins on 020 7389 4981or email eleanor.hutchins@britishcouncil.org

For further information regarding Hiscox contact:

Erica Gilson on 01206 773 877 or email erica.gilson@hiscox.com