Watlington Collection: $40K Government Grant

Minister of Community and Cultural Development Wayne Scott confirmed Government’s continued support for the Hereward Watlington Collection at the Bermuda National Gallery [BNG] at a presentation held at the Bermuda National Gallery at City Hall, Hamilton.

At the presentation attended by the Minister, Chairman of the Bermuda Fine Art Trust, Mr. Gary Phillips and BNG Director Lisa Howie on behalf of the Bermuda National Gallery, signed an agreement with the Government to enable the Bermuda National Gallery to house the Watlington collection of European paintings. This agreement stipulates that Government will pay an annual grant to the BNG of $40,000.00 for the care and upkeep of the collection.

In 1989, the Hon. Hereward Trott Watlington, an avid art collector and artist, bequeathed eighteen historical European paintings to Bermuda. This bequest, known as the Founding Collection, served as a catalyst to the establishment of the Bermuda National Gallery and the development of the permanent collections.

Presently, the Government continues to help sponsor the preservation of the collection, which includes works from the sixteenth century to the modern period. Master British portraitists Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds; Italian Renaissance artists Bartolomeo di Giovanni and

Andrea Schiavone (Andrea Meldolla); and Welsh artist Richard Wilson are represented.

“Supporting the visual arts in Bermuda is vital to maintaining our national heritage and instrumental in ensuring that our community has a national resource for education and research. The Bermuda National Gallery is the home of Bermuda’s national art collection and is at the centre of the Island’s vibrant arts scene,” the Minister said.

He added: “Since 1992 the BNG has been dedicated to bringing the world of art to Bermuda and Bermuda’s art to the world and the Watlington Collection is a wonderful gift to the Government and people of Bermuda.”

The European Collection serves as the foundation to an evolving group of works that now includes important gifts such as paintings by Elisée Maclet and Jean Dufy from the John Hinson Young II and Nelga Young Collection, and long-term loans, such as the work of Barbara Hepworth and Sir Frank Brangwyn.

“The Government’s continued financial support of The European Collection plays a critical role in the museum’s ability to house and care for these historic objects. Time, itself, is a potential hazard for artwork this old, so too the elements of temperature and humidity,” the BNG Director said.

Ms. Howie added: “Government funding ensures that we are able to sustain a supportive environment for the artwork, as well as put the artwork on display on a rotation accompanied by educational programming. In this lies a most significant opportunity to discuss the history of art and how these works have informed modern and contemporary expressions.”

In conclusion Ms. Howie said: “Government’s support of the Collection is a testimony to the importance of art in the welfare of our society. Bermuda’s diverse and evolving culture is reflected in the permanent collections of the Bermuda National Gallery, with this European Collection serving as the starting point.”

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