Image Library at Risk: Art trade bemoans budget cuts at Courtauld
- September 02, 2009 17:07
The Courtauld Institute of Art in London, one of the most esteemed colleges in the world for the study of art history, is at the center of a storm over the upkeep of its photographic libraries - a hugely valuable resource for both art historians and the international art trade. A £1million budget shortfall is forcing the institution to consider closing the library four days a week and losing its staff. Art dealer Buffy Parker is one in the trade who made a major discovery at the Courtauld's Witt library. A grubby painting of a pope which he had bought for £180 was in fact a lost portrait of Pope Clement V11 by Sebastiano del Piombo which ultimately sold to the J.Paul Getty Museum for an estimated £6m