Art collections in National Parliaments of the EU-27
Results of the survey realised by
DG COMM and DG PRES
from March till May 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY RESULTS
1. Austria
2. Belgium
3. Bulgaria
4. Cyprus
5. Czech Republic
6. Denmark
7. Estonia
8. Finland
9. France
10. Germany
11. Greece
12. Hungary
13. Ireland
14. Italy
15. Latvia
16. Lithuania
17. Luxembourg
18. Malta
19. Netherlands
20. Poland
21. Portugal
22. Romania
23. Slovakia
24. Slovenia
25. Spain
26. Sweden
27. United Kingdom
III. CONCLUSIONS
I. INTRODUCTION
"Rising the interest through art" is one of the actions in the DG COMM Action Plan in view of the next European elections. In order to prepare the policy on use of works of art from the European Parliament's collection, it is important to know what approach is chosen in national assemblies of all Member States, and to study the possibility of synergies between the EP art collection and the national collections.
DG COMM, in collaboration with DG PRES, conducted a survey among all national parliaments with the following questions:
- Does the National Assembly / Senate in your country have an art collection?
- If yes, what is its origin (since when, what was the original reason for establishing it, any other major facts)?
- How many artworks does this collection consist of?
- Are the artworks purchases?
- If so, who decides on the allocation and what is/was their volume?
- Is the acquisition still ongoing/planned in the future?
- Are the artworks donations?
- What is the decision-process of accepting a donation/ purchasing an artwork?
- Are the artworks loans? What type (permanent, temporary, public or private)?
- What is the total value of the collection (in €)?
- What are the purposes that the art collection serves (decoration, temporary exhibitions, loans, etc.)?
II. SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY RESULTS
1. Austria
The Parliamentary Administration has a small art collection (Galerie Parlament - 40 pieces) and shows an annual exhibition of contemporary art (loans - 480 artworks from Artothek and loans for temporary exhibitions). The idea behind the collection was to begin a discussion about art and to support the preoccupation with Austrian contemporary art, and also to give artists the possibility to show their work in the building of the Austrian Parliament.
Since 2003 temporary exhibition of contemporary art under the direction of curators are organised, also on the Internet, as well as the Galerie Parlament with mainly historical pictures (
Furtheracquisitions and art related projects are foreseen in the future. The total value of 480 artworks from the Artothek is about € 1.410.000.
2. Belgium
Parliament
The art collection of the House of Representatives of Belgium was started in 1850 on the initiative of the prime minister at the time, Charles Rogier. His aim was to start a gallery of portraits of all former presidents of the House as well as a gallery of marble busts of all former prime ministers. Both galleries would be the showcase of what the best Belgian painters and sculptors of that time had to offer. This tradition has never been abandoned since. The latest inaugurated portrait is the one of Mr. Herman Van Rompuy in November 2011.
In addition to these portraits, the romantic spirit of the second half of the 19th century led to the order of paintings and statues of important historical figures as well as city views with a double purpose: decorating the premises as well as glorifying the historical national past of our young nation.
During the first half of the 20th century, very few new works of art were ordered or purchased. In the fifties and sixties, several dozens of paintings, statues, Chinese vases belonging to state museums and other institutions were given in loan to the House. Some damaged paintings returned to the museums to be restored, many are still decorating the Speakers’ wing and other parts of the Palace of the Nation.
During the eighties and nineties, the acquisition of a new building for the members increased the need for available art works to decorate the new offices. Every year, a board of art critics and officials selected an important amount of art works to be purchased from promising Belgian artists. There is a great diversity of art forms: engravings, lithographs, drawings, tapestries, etc.
To sum it up, the +/- 1200 works of the collection of the House belong mostly to the House, the Royal Museums of Fine-Arts of Belgium and several institutions such as the Flemish and French Communities. Some artworks are long term loans. The core of the collection is the portrait and bust galleries and accessible to the public visiting the house.
Acquisition is planned in the future for portraits and busts. The budget is decided by the Members, and the decision process involves Quaestors. The total insurance value of all artworks is € 3.350.000.
Senate
Since the independence of Belgium in 1830, a governmental art committee bought interesting works of art for most of the public buildings in Belgium, including the Senate. Since the Second World War, the Senate decides (and pays) independently. The decision is taken by 3 Quaestors, and the yearly budget is € 50.000. The Senate has also several loans (permanent or temporary) originating from public collections.
Currently Senate owns circa 740 artworks, and the collection is insured for circa € 6.000.000.
3. Bulgaria
The National Assembly of Bulgaria has an art collection of over 200 paintings and sculptural works of art, both donations and loans.Some of the artworks are property of the National Assembly, others were donated by the NationalArtGallery and the NationalHistoricalMuseum. There are also several purchased paintings following the exhibitions organised at the MP’s Club. No overall assessment of the entire collection hasyet been performed.
4. Cyprus
There is no art collection per se in the house, in the sense that a collection is not permanently exhibited in a specified area of the house. However, most of the artworks which are either on loan or, purchased directly by the house, are allocated throughout the parliament building, mainly for decoration purposes.The allocation of the artworks is administrated by the house’s general management whilst their volume can be decided by the house or the national gallery if they are loans.Decisions on artworks purchases are primarily made by the president of the house and/or the secretary-general.Some of them are acquisitions and some of them are loans from the national gallery (i.e. temporary, public loans)
5. CzechRepublic
Office of the Chamber of Deputies
The art collection is used only for decoration of parliamentary premises. Only a few artworks are purchases, as the vast majority of artworks are loans from public or private collections and galleries. Due to this fact, their number and period of lending differs depending on particular contracts.
Senate
The Senate art collection consist of 1500 pieces, most of them purchased, The artworks originate from: a) transfer of state property, since 1996 (historic Waldstein furniture from 15th to 20th century and modern paintings, drawings, graphics from 20th century), b) purchase of historic engravings from 15th to 19th century, painting and sculptures 20th century, and portraits and busts of the first Czechoslovak president.
There are few donations and loans (19th – 20th century artworks). The internal rules govern the acquisition process, with an expert officer/commission allocating budget for that purpose.
The reason of their acquirement was a decoration of a palace. The total insurance value of the collection is € 330.000.
6. Denmark
The art collection of over 2000 pieces was started in 1849. The artworks, mostly acquisitions, decorate the plenary halls, meeting rooms, corridors and members' offices.In many cases, the art in the Folketing can to be regarded as a part of a political scenography with references to the legislative and political process, that take place in the parliament building.
The advisory art committee – a non-political advisory board – decides in matters of acquisitions of work of arts in the collection, with the yearly budget of € 100.000.
Around 150 pieces of art are on permanent loan from the National Museum of Arts and a few other art museums. The total insurance value is unknown.
7. Estonia
The collection is originated from the early years of the Republic of Estonia (before Soviet occupation). There are mainly artworks which belong to the institution (91); in addition there are some artwork loans (from the Art Museum of Estonia) and temporary art exhibitions. The volume of acquisitions, also planned in the future, is decided by the administration. There is no strict decision procedure. What is interesting, interior designer helps to make concrete decisions.
The book value of the purchased collection is 3376 € but this is only accounting number and do not show the real value (which is not accountable).
8. Finland
The Finnish Parliament has a significant art collection (1500 artworks), started in the 19th century and includes portraits of the speakers of the non-noble Estates. The collection of portraits is still being augmented. Key works of art for the ParliamentBuilding, which was completed in 1931, were acquired with the help of art competitions. Key works for the annexes that were completed in 1978 were acquired in a similar manner. The art competition that was held for the Little Parliament building, which was completed in 2004, was the biggest art competition that has been arranged in Finland up to now. It resulted in six major works of art outside and inside the building.
The largest part of the art collection consists of works that have been purchased to place in offices, meeting rooms, lobbies and corridors. Parliament's art collection grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s. The collection continues to grow, and about 350 works were acquired for the Little Parliament building in 2004-2007 alone.
Parliament's art collection is managed by a curator who is an art historian and a professional in the museum field. She is assisted by a secretary and a project worker.
In addition to works that were selected and created with the help of competitions, the collection also includes donations. There are donations from the other Nordic parliaments in connection with celebrations marking anniversaries of the unicameral Parliament and Finnish independence. Donations offered by private persons are dealt with in the same way as acquisitions. Parliament's art collection is of a high standard and the intention is to keep it that way.
Appropriations for art acquisitions are decided as part of the annual budget of Parliament's Administrative Department. The size of the appropriation depends on the year and art projects that are under way. The annual appropriation has varied between €30,000 and €450,000 in the past seven years. Works of art are acquired as needed. In 2012 the intention is to commission one speaker's portrait. Owing to an extensive renovation project the emphasis is presently on maintaining and restoring artworks.
In the 1980s and 1990s Parliament had a committee that dealt with acquisitions and donations and presented proposals for the administrative director to approve. In art competitions selections are made by a jury comprising laymen and professionals, whose members are chosen in cooperation with artists' organizations. Some members represent Parliament and others represent Finnish artists.
Currently the curator prepares minor art acquisitions. Major acquisitions are prepared together with an architect. Depending on the size of the acquisition the matter is decided by the administrative director or the Office Commission on the basis of a proposal prepared by the curator.
Parliament has not had artwork loans for decades. In the 1950s - 1970s, when the art collection was still fairly small, works on loan from the Finnish National Gallery were on display in Parliament.
The total insurance value of Parliament's art collection is about € 5.000.000.
Artworks are an integral part of the decor of the ParliamentBuilding, and they also serve as landmarks in large buildings' corridors, making it easier for people to find their way.
Parliament lends works of art to museums on request. Some special exhibitions including works from Parliament's art collection have also been arranged outside Parliament.
9. France
The Parliament has never aimed at establishing an art collection; however it does have artworks in its premises. 75% of them have been purchased by the Parliament, 7,5% are loans of the Museums and 17,5% are loans of the National Fund for Contemporary Art. The works of art were purchased in order to depict the history of the Parliament, commemorate anniversaries like the centennial or bicentennial of the French Revolution and for decoration
In 2008 anart committee for the acquisitions was created, composed of representatives from the museums (Louvre, d’Orsay, d’Art moderne ou du Fonds national d’art contemporain). The last acquisitions were made in 2010.
10. Germany
Bundestag
The Parliament owns an art collection with circa 3000 pieces, started in 1969, that includes purchases, donations and loans. The Parliament there is an art commission that yearly disposes of a budget of € 175.000.
The acquisition budget is a fixed sum in the yearly budget.There are calls for tenders and commissions for "Kunst am Bau" projects for each new building project. From time to time works of art from the collection are donated. Donations and acquisitions are decided by the art advisory council. Sometimes loans are received (but this is an exception). The total value has not yet been estimated. For example, alone for "Kunst am Bau" projects roughly 15 million euro were spent between 1998 and 2002.
Artworks in the offices should encourage the understanding of artistic creativity among politicians and visitors while also raising awareness of the ethical foundations of the democratically constituted polity. Furthermore discussions on the best forms of democratic government should be encouraged between citizens and politicians. In this way, works of art should lead to the development of identity. This is why works of art are open to the public. At the weekends, there are tours of the works of art in the Parliament buildings and the citizens can visit the temporary exhibitions in the "Kunst-Raum" of the German Bundestag every day (except Monday). An accompanying art programme brings children and teenagers closer to art and politics (for further thoughts please read the book "Politik und Kunst - Kunst & Politik. Künstler und ihre Werke in den Bauten des Deutschen Bundestags in Berlin", Berlin/Tübingen 2005. "Politics and art - art & politics. Artists and their works in the buildings of the German Bundestag in Berlin")
Bundesrat
The art collection consists of 301 art objects, only acquisitions and two loans. The purpose of the art collection is the promotion of contemporary artists of the federal state holding the presidency. Furthermore the objects of art decorate the representational rooms.The President of the Bundesrat decides on the acquisition.The decision process is based on a regulation from the Ministry of Finance which contains instructions on the acquisition and administration of objects of art in federal property.
11. Greece
The Parliament owns an art collection (853 works of art), which is supervised by Special Art and Civilization Committee established in 1995. The Committee consists of eleven members (art professors and museum directors mostly). The scope of the art collection comprises the Greek artistic production from the beginning of the 19th century till our days, as well as few works of foreign artists inspired by Greek themes. Additionally, a portrait collection contains the portraits of deceased Prime Ministers and Speakers of the House.
Most of the artworks are acquisitions, few are donations and commissions. Artwork decorates offices, is exhibited in the ParliamentBuilding corridors. Upon request artwork of the Parliament Art Collection is presented to temporary exhibitions in Greece and abroad.
The online catalogue:
12. Hungary
The Hungarian National Assembly has an art collection (117 pieces) displayed in the House of the National Assembly: a monumental building with all its statues, paintings, architectural compositions and adornments. Most of the artworks are property of the HungarianState, and they have been purchased continuously since the existence of the Parliament.
There are also works of art with commodatum contract from the Hungarian National Gallery, Herend Porcelain Manufactory, etc.; their amount fluctuates but usually there are approximately 600 of them. The acquisitions are managed by the Directorate for economics of the Hungarian National Assembly
13. Ireland
There are artworks in the Parliament (Leinster House) which are owned by the State rather than the Parliament. The collection is managed by the Office of Public Works which is an Office within the Department of Finance. The collection consists of portraits and busts of persons famous in the Irish history, as well as paintings, sculptures and memorabilia.
14. Italy
Chamber of Deputies
The works of art conserved in the Chamber of Deputies are not part of a homogeneous collection but a vast and complex group of works accumulated after the establishment of the Chamber of Deputies in Palazzo Montecitorio in 1871. Most of the items are the property of the principal Italian museums, which since 1926 contributed to satisfying the furnishing and reception needs of the Parliament.
Other works, mainly 20th century Italian paintings and sculptures, were purchased directly by the Chamber starting in the 1930s. The collection grew significantly during the 1960s. During the XIII Parliament (May 1996 to May 2001) the policy was to purchase works by young artists that had been displayed on the occasion of events such as the Rome Quadriennale and the Venice Biennale.
Today, the collection consists of 1303 artworks: 1086 paintings, 106 sculptures, 15 tapestries and 96 archaeological items. 765 artworks are purchases, 525 are loans and 15 are donations. The allocation of resources to the purchase of artworks isdecided by the House when the internal budget isapproved, on the recommendation of the College ofQuaestors. Because of budget constraints, no resourceshave been allocated to the purchase of artworks since2008.
The artworks housed in the Chamber are used for thepurpose of decorating and for the propriety of theparliamentary institution. Over time they have also beenused in temporary exhibitions or, upon request, loaned to exhibitions held outside parliament.