Page 41 - Studio International - February 1965

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1 dreamed of a dispensation which would do them serious and most original in the painting and sculpture
,Georges Rouault justice. of the present day. And to do my utmost to secure, as
1871-1958 quickly as circumstances allowed, the representation
The Italian Woman. 1938 British painting, even today, is, I believe, undervalued,
25i X 19i in. but for several years it has at least been the subject of of men and women of major talent who had hitherto
Bought in 1949 and one of the research by a number of distinguished scholars. But in been ignored, or worse still, had been represented by
five works by this painter in the the 'twenties and 'thirties it was to an astonishing examples which did them little justice; moreover, I
collection extent ignored by scholars and disparaged by critics. wished to do my utmost to ensure a sympathetic
2 'I wonder,' wrote Roger Fry, the most influential attitude towards young artists and so give them help
Francis Bacon British art critic of the time, 'whether Turner ever did when they stood most in need of it. This of course would
Seated Figure. 1961 have any distinctive personal experience before nature.· also enable the gallery to make its purchases from a wide
65 X 56 in.
Presented by J. Sainsbury Ltd., in I dreamed then of an opportunity of doing something range of their work, instead of waiting until it was
1961 ; one of seven works by this towards a reappraisal of the great British masters, of scarce and expensive.
painter at the Tate Turner most of all. These were very large ambitions, but I was compelled
My aspirations, translated into practical terms, were at first to give priority to even more urgent matters: the
these. To show British painting and sculpture in a preparations for the removal of the collection to places
logical, chronological sequence; to make its develop­ of safety in anticipation of the impending war-a vast
ment intelligible to the ordinary member of the public and infinitely dispiriting undertaking.
as well as to the scholar. To arrange it with dignity; for During the fourteen months between assuming my
though its history has been sharply fluctuating, the duties and the outbreak of war I was allowed, neverthe­
British school of painting has produced a remarkable less. some time for constructive activities. Going through
number of major figures. To make the Tate a place where the works in store I came upon a large group of paint­
the visual values would be worthily upheld, not only by ings which, covered in dirt though they were, fairly took
the ordering of the exhibits, but by its decoration. To my breath away: they were the late near-abstract
make it audaciously responsive to what was most symphonies in pure colour by Turner, scarcely any of

which, as far as I was able to ascertain, had ever been
shown. Knowing that there was no time to have them
cleaned, I at once hung up all of those that were visible
through their films of dirt. Later on, more of these
astonishing paintings were discovered, in similar
condition, at the National Gallery, and handed over to
the Tate. Then, the galleries that formed the climax of the
circuit of the building were occupied by a seedy
miscellany of Victorian and Edwardian popular­
academic works. I had these put in store and replaced
by a collection of works by serious painters, including
Sickert. Steer, Augustus and Gwen John, Stanley
Spencer, Matthew Smith and Paul Nash. But before
more than half the collection could be rearranged so as
to make historical sense the war was upon us.
The wartime public showed an immensely enhanced
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