The Public Catalogue Foundation
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The Public Catalogue Foundation, a registered charity, is at the start of an ambitious project to record the UK's complete collection of oil paintings in public ownership and to make this accessible to the public through a series of affordable catalogues and, at a later stage, free Internet access. The PCF is based at the National Gallery, London.
The catalogues and resulting website will allow us to see a colour illustration and description of every painting in our national collection. This information has significant educational benefits and constitutes the building blocks for later art historical research. Revenue from catalogue sales made by collections will be dedicated to the conservation and restoration of oil paintings in their care.
Catalogues published to date include: West Yorkshire: Leeds, Kent, West Sussex, London: The Slade and UCL, East Sussex, and Suffolk, North Yorkshire, Cambridge: The Fitzwilliam Museum, and Surrey. Catalogues in production include Essex, London: The Imperial War Museum, London: Victoria & Albert Museum, West Yorkshire: Rest, Hampshire: Southampton and the Isle of Wight, Hampshire: Excluding Southampton, Cornwall, Hertfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, Birmingham, Norfolk, Staffordshire and Durham.
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.
