Nosey art lovers now have the chance to snag special insights into the UK Prime Minister’s art tastes on special tours of No.10 Downing Street due to take place next month. Curious art buffs can enter a public ballot for the special visits scheduled to take place 13 September as part of the popular Open House festival.
The lucky winners will see how the PM’s des-res has been transformed. Last year a major re-hang took place at No. 10 with two works by the late Portuguese artist Paula Rego going on show. Rego’s works— two scenes from her mural Crivelli’s Garden (1990-91)—are displayed in a room used for prime ministerial meetings with world leaders.
The paintings replaced portraits of Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh. The latter, a portrait of the late Tudor monarch, painted around 1592 by the Flemish artist Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, is known as the Ditchley Portrait.
Early last year Starmer stoked controversy when he relocated a portrait of the former Tory leader Margaret Thatcher within his residence. Meanwhile, More Passion, a 2010 neon by Tracey Emin, which was requested by the former Tory PM David Cameron, was shown within the hallowed walls of the residence for a time. However, it has since moved to the British Embassy in Paris, according to the Government Art Collection website.
