View source for Art UK

{{Short description|Arts charity in the UK}}
{{Infobox organization
|name         = Art UK
|abbreviation =
|motto        =
|formation    = 2003
|extinction   =
|type         = Charity
|status       =
|purpose      = To create a complete digital record of the UK's collection of oil, tempera and acrylic paintings and sculpture and to make art accessible to the public.
|headquarters =
|location     = Monument, London
|region_served = United Kingdom
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|website      = {{official URL}}
|remarks =
}}
'''Art UK''' is a cultural, education charity in the [[United Kingdom]],<ref>{{EW charity|1096185}}</ref> previously known as the '''Public Catalogue Foundation'''. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 300,000 paintings, sculptures and other artworks by more than 53,700 artists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Art UK 2022 Impact Report |url=https://artuk.org/about/our-impact |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=Art UK}}</ref>
It was founded for the project, completed between 2003 and 2012, of obtaining sufficient rights to enable the public to see images of all the approximately 210,000 oil paintings in public ownership in the United Kingdom. Originally the paintings were made accessible through a series of affordable book catalogues, mostly by county. Later the same images and information were placed on a website in partnership with the [[BBC]], originally called ''Your Paintings'', hosted as part of the BBC website. The renaming in 2016 coincided with the transfer of the website to a stand-alone site. Works by some 50,000 painters held in more than 3,000 collections are now on the website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artuk.org/footer/faq-13|title=Art UK – FAQ|access-date=24 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222115220/http://www.artuk.org/footer/faq-13|archive-date=22 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The catalogues and website allow readers to see an illustration, normally in colour, and short description of every painting and sculpture in the UK's national collections. This information has significant educational benefits and constitutes the building blocks for later art historical research.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Art UK {{!}} About What we do|url=https://artuk.org/about/what-we-do-199|access-date=6 November 2021|website=artuk.org|language=en}}</ref>
Revenue from catalogue sales made by collections is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of oil paintings in their care. Coverage includes national and local museums and council collections, paintings in universities, bishops' palaces of the Church of England, hospitals, the properties owned by the [[National Trust]], and some other private institutions such as the colleges of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] universities. The collections of bodies such as [[Arts Council England]], [[English Heritage]] and the [[Government Art Collection]] are included.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/about|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110627220442/http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/about/|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 June 2011|title=Art UK – About Welcome}}</ref> However, the [[Royal Collection]] is not included.
Art UK receives major funding from the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] and other sources.
In November 2016, [[Apollo (magazine)|''Apollo'']] magazine awarded Art UK the prize of "Digital Innovation of the Year".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.apollo-magazine.com/digital-innovation-of-the-year-winner-apollo-awards-2016/|title=Digital Innovation of the Year|last=Marks|first=Thomas|date=24 November 2016|website=Apollo Magazine}}</ref> It was given the "Digital Innovation of the Year" award again in 2022 in recognition of its achievement of cataloguing the UK's public sculpture.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 December 2022 |title=Apollo Awards Digital Innovation of the Year |url=https://www.apollo-magazine.com/digital-innovation-winner-apollo-awards-2022/ |url-status=live |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208150720/https://www.apollo-magazine.com/digital-innovation-winner-apollo-awards-2022/}}</ref> Artist [[Yinka Shonibare]] is Art UK's 2019 patron and has praised the charity's efforts, "public sculpture is the most democratic way to share art [...] it transcends race, class, or economic status".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/21/from-hepworth-to-rodin-uk-sculpture-collection-to-be-catalogued-online|title=From Hepworth to Rodin: UK sculpture collection to be catalogued online|last=Brown|first=Mark|date=21 February 2019|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
==Catalogue series==
Of the 210,000 oil paintings in public ownership in the UK, around 80% are not on public view. Many are held in storage or civic buildings without routine public access. At the same time, many of these collections have incomplete cataloguing records; very few have more than a small proportion of their paintings photographed, and hardly any collection has a complete illustrated catalogue of its oil paintings in book form or online. Since 2003, The Public Catalogue Foundation has been working to rectify this through a series of colour catalogues.  Before these were completed it was clear that a website was the best way to reach the wider public, a key aim of the project, so a combined approach was adopted.
The ''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership'' book series is published by The PCF mainly on a collection or county-by-county basis. Each volume brings together all the oil, acrylic and tempera paintings in a county's museum collections, together with paintings held in civic buildings such as town halls, libraries, universities, hospitals and fire stations. Each county catalogue contains a colour photograph and basic information about each painting. All paintings are reproduced regardless of quality or condition.
The PCF's first catalogue was published in June 2004, and the series is now complete in 85 volumes (see partial list below).
==Collaboration with BBC==
[[File:Olivia Boteler Porter.jpg|thumb|The ''Your Paintings'' website facilitated the discovery of this previously unknown [[portrait of Olivia Porter]] painted by [[Anthony van Dyck]].]]
The Public Catalogue Foundation worked with the BBC to put all of the UK's publicly owned oil paintings online.
In January 2009 a partnership with the [[BBC]] was announced with the aim to place the entire catalogue of publicly owned oil paintings online by 2012.<ref name="oilweb">{{cite news |first=Leigh|last=Holmwood|title=BBC to put nation's oil paintings online|newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 January 2009 |access-date=8 September 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/28/bbc-digitalmedia |archive-date=19 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819193035/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/28/bbc-digitalmedia |url-status=live}}</ref> On 4 October 2012 it was announced that the project had photographed every painting that it intended to and all 210,000 would shortly be available.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19826892 "Public paintings quest completed"], BBC News, 4 October 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.</ref>
A section of the BBC website, ''Your Paintings'',<ref name="YourP">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/|title=Your Paintings|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=30 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701100213/http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/|archive-date=1 July 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref>  was launched in 2011. The PCF completed the digitisation of the entire national collection and celebrated their success in February 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Your Paintings project lights up Norwich Castle|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-21396334|access-date=15 March 2013|newspaper=BBC News|date=9 February 2013}}</ref> An innovative [[crowdsourcing]] project, ''Your Paintings Tagger'',<ref name="Tagger">{{cite web|url=http://tagger.thepcf.org.uk/|title=Your Paintings Tagger|publisher=The Public Catalogue Foundation|access-date=30 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215121224/http://tagger.thepcf.org.uk/|archive-date=15 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> also went online in 2011, to generate the [[metadata]] necessary to make ''Your Paintings'' fully searchable. The high-quality{{Clarify|reason=vague|date=August 2016}} digital files, however, have not been made available to the public, and paintings on the BBC site can only be "saved" as a "personal collection" on the site, not downloaded.
In March 2013 the BBC revealed that an unknown painting by [[Anthony van Dyck]] had been discovered because of the ''Your Paintings'' website. [[Portrait of Olivia Porter|The painting of Olivia Porter]], wife of [[Endymion Porter|Sir Endymion Porter]], had been discovered on-line and although it was previously thought it to be in the style of the Van Dyck, experts now agreed that the painting was an unknown original. Olivia, the subject of the painting, who died in 1663, was a [[lady-in-waiting]] to queen consort [[Henrietta Maria]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21712209 "Van Dyck painting 'found online{{'"}}], BBC News, 9 March 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.</ref> She had married Endymion Porter, who was a patron of Anthony van Dyck. A ''[[Culture Show]]'' TV programme noted that the painting had not previously been published and it was the ''Your Paintings'' website that had allowed this attribution.<ref>''Culture Show'', first shown 9 March 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.</ref>
Art UK collaborates in making the [[BBC Four]] television series ''[[Britain's Lost Masterpieces]]''.<ref name="Jordaens">{{cite web|title=BBC Four's Britain's Lost Masterpieces discovers rare painting by 17th Century master Jacob Jordaens|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/britains-lost-masterpieces-jacob-jordaens|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=29 September 2017}}</ref>
== Sculpture project ==
Art UK helped the UK to become the first country in the world to offer a digital collection of publicly owned sculpture, with the first records appearing on the site from February 2019.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/21/from-hepworth-to-rodin-uk-sculpture-collection-to-be-catalogued-online|title=From Hepworth to Rodin: UK sculpture collection to be catalogued online|last=Brown|first=Mark|date=21 February 2019|website=The Guardian}}</ref> The site aimed at the time to have made 150,000 sculptures viewable by the end of 2020.<ref name="auto"/> As of early 2023, however, the number of sculptures listed on Art UK was just over 50,000, <ref>{{Cite web |title=Sculptures on Art UK |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/work_type:sculpture |access-date=8 February 2023}}</ref> over 13,500 of which are outdoor public sculptures and monuments.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Briggs |first=Gemma |date=1 July 2022 |title=Landmark project puts all the nation's public sculptures online |url=https://artuk.org/discover/stories/landmark-project-puts-all-the-nations-public-sculptures-online |url-status=live |archive-date=15 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715103632/https://artuk.org/discover/stories/landmark-project-puts-all-the-nations-public-sculptures-online}}</ref> All of the recorded sculptures included date from the last 1,000 years.
The organisation published its first annual report on new sculpture unveilings in early 2023. The report found that "one in five statues unveiled in 2022 were dedicated to people of Black, Asian and other ethnicities, helping to redress historic imbalances of people celebrated in public art."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/public-sculptures-becoming-more-diverse-study-finds|title=Public sculptures becoming more diverse, study finds|website=ArtsProfessional}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Briggs |first=Gemma |date=30 January 2023 |title=Public sculpture 2022 report reveals increase in diversity |url=https://artuk.org/discover/stories/public-sculpture-2022-report-reveals-increase-in-diversity}}</ref>
==Book catalogues==
The earlier catalogues published are listed below. (Full listing available online.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepcf.org.uk/shop|title=Buy art books, framed & unframed prints from Art UK Shop|access-date=16 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722002247/http://thepcf.org.uk/shop|archive-date=22 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>)
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in West Yorkshire: [[Leeds]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Lucy Ellis, 2004, {{ISBN|9781904931003}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Kent]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2004 {{ISBN|9781904931027}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[West Sussex]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2005, {{ISBN|9781904931041}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[London]]: [[The Slade]] School of Fine Art & [[University College London]] Art Collections'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2005, {{ISBN|9781904931065}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[East Sussex]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2005, {{ISBN|9781904931089}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Suffolk]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, Alan Grundy, 2005, {{ISBN|9781904931102}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[North Yorkshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, Lucy Denton, Sally Pelham, 2006, {{ISBN|9781904931225}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Cambridgeshire]]: The [[Fitzwilliam Museum]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2006, {{ISBN|9781904931126}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Surrey]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Stella Sharp, Sonia Roe, 2006, {{ISBN|9781904931249}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Norfolk]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2006, {{ISBN|9781904931201}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Essex]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2007, {{ISBN|9781904931140}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[the Imperial War Museum]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andy Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2006, {{ISBN|9781904931287}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2008, {{ISBN|9781904931409}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in Hampshire: [[Southampton]] & the [[Isle of Wight]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2007, {{ISBN|9781904931188}}
*[[Hampshire]] (excluding Southampton): ''Oil paintings in public ownership in Hampshire'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, Elizabeth Vickers, 2007, {{ISBN|9781904931164}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Cornwall]] & the [[Isles of Scilly]]: under the Royal Patronage of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Sonia Roe, Steve Tanner, 2007, {{ISBN|9781904931317}}
*[[West Yorkshire]] (excluding Leeds):''Oil paintings in public ownership in West Yorkshire'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Sonia Roe, 2007, {{ISBN|9781904931263}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Staffordshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Sonia Roe, 2007, {{ISBN|9781904931348}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in the [[Government Art Collection]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2007
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Birmingham]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2008, {{ISBN|9781904931386}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Nottinghamshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, Angharad Jones, 2008, {{ISBN|9781904931744}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[County Durham]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, Sally Pelham, 2008, {{ISBN|9781904931485}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in the [[City of London]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Sonia Roe, 2008, {{ISBN|9781904931775}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Hertfordshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Sonia Roe, 2008, {{ISBN|9781904931355}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Tyne & Wear Museums]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2008
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Northumberland]], [[Tees Valley]] & [[Tyne and Wear]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2009, {{ISBN|9781904931379}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Warwickshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Sonia Roe, 2009, {{ISBN|9781904931546}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Herefordshire]], [[Worcestershire]] & [[Shropshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe,   2009, {{ISBN|9781904931782}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Berkshire]], [[Buckinghamshire]] & [[Oxfordshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Sonia Roe, 2009, {{ISBN|9781904931362}}
*''Oil paintings in public ownership in [[Derbyshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, John Bather, 2009, {{ISBN|9781904931508}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Dorset]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Venetia Ross Skinner, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2009, {{ISBN|9781904931478}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Somerset]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, Malcolm V. L. Pearce, Andrew Ellis, Sonia Roe, 2011, {{ISBN|9781904931522}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership: In [[Bedfordshire]], [[Cambridgeshire]] & [[Northamptonshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2010, {{ISBN|9781904931461}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[East Riding of Yorkshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2012, {{ISBN|9781904931775}}
*''Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in [[Gloucestershire]] & [[Wiltshire]]'', The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2012, {{ISBN|9781904931560}}
Revenues generated from catalogue sales at participating collections is nearly all used for painting restoration and gallery education. The project's overall income is used to help fund upcoming catalogues, as most funding is generated from private donations.
==Board of trustees==
*[[Kathleen Soriano]] (Chair)
*[[George Entwistle]] (Vice Chair)
*Noura Al-Maashouq
*Hasan Bakhshi
*Carola Boehm
*Ian Cuerden
*Errol Francis
*Catherine Holden
*[[Clare Lilley]]
*Bob Lisney, OBE
*Thomas Marks
*John Stack
*Kim Streets
*[[Andria Zafirakou]], MBE
Past Trustees
*Charles Gregson (Chairman)
*Rana Begum
*[[Bob and Roberta Smith]], OBE
*Camilla Eden-Davies
*[[David Ekserdjian|Professor David Ekserdjian]]
*Fred Hohler (founder and honorary trustee)
*[[Charles Saumarez Smith]]
*[[Graham Southern]]
*Alex Morrison
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Art UK}}
{{Wikidata property|P1679|P1367}}
* {{official|http://www.artuk.org/ }}
* [http://www.artuk.org/discover/artworks Art UK artworks]
* {{EW charity|1096185}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Art UK}}
[[Category:2003 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Arts foundations based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Arts organisations based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Charities based in London]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 2003]]