§ 65. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Secretary to the Treasury the names of the pictures with the names of the artists who painted them now in the custody of or belonging to the National Gallery which are not on public exhibition; why they are not on public exhibition; where they are; and how long they have not been on public exhibition.
§ Mr. H. BrookeThere are about 1,960 pictures at the National Gallery of which about 855 are exhibited at present. I regret I cannot supply a complete list of the remaining 1,105. These can be viewed on application and at 24 hours' notice; they are displayed on screens on the ground floor, except for those on loan to official Government residences or to provincial and other galleries, and those which are being treated.
There is not enough space to exhibit the entire collection at the same time. The 66W best 200 or so pictures have been exhibited continuously since the war, and there is a constant movement of pictures in and out of the exhibition for cleaning, restoration and other purposes. I cannot say how long particular pictures have been withdrawn from exhibition, since individual records of the movements of each picture are not kept.