When up in London a week or so ago we went to the National Portrait Gallery to see an exhibition of works by the Georgian portraitist, Sir Thomas Lawrence.
When buying tickets I enquired whether the portrait shown here, of the poet John Donne, painted in around 1590, was on display. I was told that unfortunately I would not be able to see it since it is currently away on loan to another museum. The person at the information desk was not at all surprised by my question however.
The portrait was saved for the nation through an appeal in 2006 and thousands of art lovers, including myself, gave contributions, in many cases only amounting to a pound or so. Now of course all those who contributed feel a small sense of ownership in respect of the picture and I understand that almost every day someone asks after it. I’m not really sure why but I found the idea that the picture is now cared about by a large number of people very cheering.
The Lawrence exhibition was quite spectacular, and made up for the disappointment of not reconnecting with Mr Donne on this occasion!
