'Orff with their frames'
April 23 2013
Picture: NPG
The Grumpy Art Historian reviews a new book on the history of London's main galleries in the early 20th Century, 'Stewards of the Nation's Art' by Andrea Geddes Poole, and relates this interesting tale:
The future King Edward VIII was briefly a trustee of the National Gallery, and I'd heard that he was somewhat disengaged. But I had no idea that the NG acceded to his request to borrow a few pictures for his own house - which he proceeded to re-frame! It seems only by good fortune that the original frames were found in a bedroom. It's a great story that she tells well, highlighting the dereliction of duty by the board.
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