The National Gallery Schools of Painting [antikvár]

Introduction Lovers of painting require no explanation of why public art galleries exist - why, in particular, the National Gallery exists and should go on existing. While literature and music are broadly available to everyone, paintings present the problem of being single, physical objects, not able to be disseminated or adequately duplicated. They need to be seen in the original to be fully enjoyed and understood, though a book such as this can offer a useful appetiser for that experience Paintings can, unfortunately, be treated as property Access to them can be controlled, even prevented, by their owners in ways which happily do not apply to Shakespeare's plays and Mozart's music. It is the more necessary, therefore, to have some great paintings brought together, cared for and displayed permanently in a public building - one to which we all have access freely - if Western painting is ever to be appreciated, as it deserves to be, on equal terms with Western music and literature In Britain appreciation of all the visual arts, not solely painting, has tended to be neglected in traditional education, and this makes the role of museums and galleries the more vital. The public museum was very much a child of nineteenth-century thinking and doing, though some of the thinking had begun in the previous century. Education and culture were then seen as desirable twin social goals, deserving support by governments (whose members were often cultured and knowledgeable about the visual arts). When England eventually got round to considering seriously the need for a national picture gallery, the Prime Minister of the day took an active part. Not private sources but public funds were called on, and the National Gallery came into existence by the will of Parliament.