A picture perfect project

A picture perfect project - Fairlynch Museum

By: Michael Downes
Added: 08 January 2012

With so many artists, both professional and amateur, attracted by the picturesque East Devon landscape, it's no surprise that Fairlynch boasts a fine collection of works of art.

The latest estimate by the Museum's Disposal and Acquisitions Committee is that Fairlynch has around 400 sketches, drawings, original paintings and prints of local significance or by local artists.

Some of these paintings can now be viewed online thanks to a partnership between the Public Catalogue Foundation and the BBC. 200,000 publicly owned oil paintings are held in institutions ranging from museums large and small to town halls, universities, hospitals and even fire stations.

However, four in five of these paintings are not on view. Over the last few years the PCF has been working closely with collections up and down the country to photograph such works of art and collate information about each painting.

The PCF is now well over halfway through this project, having photographed nearly 110,000 paintings from over 1,600 collections. It expects to complete the digitisation programme by late 2012, funding permitting.  

Oil paintings at Fairlynch can now be viewed online by clicking on http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/galleries/locations/fairlynch-museum-5056

Much more information needs to be gathered generally to complete the task of cataloguing the Fairlynch art collection. Friends of the Museum or local residents who would like to help with this work would be most welcome. For further details please contact the Secretary, Iris Cooper, on 01395 445273; email: iris.cooper759@btint​ernet.com

Pictured above is 'Rainy Day' by George Ellis Carpenter, one of the paintings in Fairlynch now viewable on the PCF site.


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