Southampton's Buried Art Collection

Southampton's art gallery in the Civic Centre.


Lately there has been a great deal of discussion about art in the pages of the local newspaper.

Having read various articles in the paper I thought it would be interesting to find out how much art the City Council actually has. So I tabled a question at the last full Council meeting.

I was astonished to discover that the City has over 135,000,000 pounds of art. This is the figure taken from 2001, the last time a valuation was done. Since then, no doubt it has increased in value and additional works of art have been added to the collection.

One such item of art that was recently added to the collection is Bridget Riley's Red Movement. The controversial purchase by the City Council hit the headlines several weeks ago and has been raging ever since.

The 250,000 pound work of art has been widely criticised as a looking like an old 1970s quilt cover. However Lib Dem polticians, who agreed the purchase have been lining up to defend their decision.

Cllr Adrian Vinson, Lib Dem leader of the Council said with his typical arrogance "At least the decision is being made by people who know something about modern art." He went on to add, "Why can't it be a pleasant arrangement of line and colour? Why can't it create an illusion of flow and movement on the surface?"

Fellow Lib Dem, Cllr Steve Sollitt (left), Cabinet Member for Lesiure is also said to love the piece of art and feels it is well worth the money. Purchasing the painting was Cllr Sollitt's first big decision since being elected to the Council in May, after a failed bid to become Southampton Test's MP.

As a tax payer I certainly don't feel that I am getting full value from the 135,000,000 pound treasure (much of which is buried away in the dusty vaults of the Civic Centre). I asked Councillor Sollitt what his strategy was for the city's art. After much 'umming' and 'ahhing' and shifting about he eventually came up with an answer. He said that we should try and display as much of it as possible. I am not sure Councillor Sollitt has a grip on his job. I certainly don't think he is up to the job of representing the city in Parliament.


Update 6th October - Article on Southampton's art in today's Daily Echo.