§ 37. Mr. F. Noel-Bakerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenue is earned for the National Gallery by granting permission to commercial advertisers to use photographs of paintings which are the property of the nation; and to what extent he proposes to deduct an equivalent sum from the Exchequer grants to the Gallery.
§ Mr. SimonTwo hundred and fourteen pounds in 1958 out of total reproduction fees of £1,615. Hitherto receipts from this source have been credited to the publications department of the National Gallery. With effect from 1958–59 I have arranged that they should be credited directly to the Exchequer.
§ Mr. Noel-BakerWhile welcoming any source of revenue to the trustees of the National Gallery, however disreputable, may I ask the hon. Gentleman if he does not think that the advertising which appeared for Messrs. Harvey's sherry in which a very famous picture of Goya was used as part of a rather vulgar advertisement—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."]—is undignified and undesirable? Will he ask the Trustees to look at this question again.
§ Mr. SimonThese are, of course, matters of opinion. The trustees are an exceptionally able, cultivated and dedicated body of men and they are well capable of judging what is in the best interests of art in general, of the National Gallery in particular, and of its pictures, with their judgment not clouded by obsessive rancour against advertising.