Prof. Deborah Swallow, Director, Courtauld Institute of Art, London will speak on

Art for All: Samuel Courtauld, collecting and public patronage

The concept of 'Art for All' is universally endorsed, but what does it really mean?
Industrialist Samuel Courtauld ensured that the great impressionist and post-impressionist paintings that he purchased, and so loved, were primarily in the collections of public institutions. He passionately believed in the positive impact of great art. Yet the concept of 'Art for All' in the 1920s is different from that in the 2020s. Today arts and cultural institutions, are rightly being challenged about what they do, what they hold, whose work they show and whom they are for. This talk will look at the history of The Courtauld from this perspective and its hopes for the future.  Prof. Deborah Swallow is the Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld Institute of Art, London.  Founded in 1932, The Courtauld is the UK’s leading specialist institution for research and study in the history of art, architecture, and conservation, with an art gallery and a world-renowned art collection. Before joining the Institute, Prof. Swallow worked for 21-years in the Indian and Asian Departments at the Victoria and Albert Museum and 8 years in the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

(Collaboration: JD Centre of Art)