THE TONY BANKS MEMORIAL TRUST |
TO ACQUIRE AND COMMISSION HISTORICAL ART FOR PUBLIC PLACES
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| Tony Banks with the sculptor Antony Dufort, discussing |
When Tony Banks became Chairman of the House of Commons Works of Art Committee in 2001, having rather more quietly served on the committee as a member for around ten years, he immediately applied all the experience, skills and insights he had acquired through his private passion as collector to the public roll of commissioning and acquiring art for the Palace of Westminster. One of his first purchases was an outstanding portrait of Ramsay Macdonald at home in Scotland by Sir John Lavery (see below). This highly important representation was unprecedented in prime-ministerial portraiture by dint of its informality, and is now one of the treasures of the Palace’s collection. |
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| Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937) at home in Lossiemouth, Scotland, by Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) |
Some of the country’s leading portrait artists were commissioned (instead of the normal great worthies) to paint portraits of the first black woman MP and the first black cabinet minister. Tony also dreamed up the concept of an election artist, analogous to a war artist, to follow the battle buses and provide pictures of the election conflict. Paintings by the suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst, portraits of Pitt the Younger and William Wilberforce, together with numerous other notable political treasures also found their way to the precincts of Westminster during his four-year tenure as chairman. With the support of the Speaker, he established a high watermark for inspired commissions and significant purchases, a tradition which has now been continued with verve by his successors. |
THE TONY BANKS MEMORIAL TRUST |
Tony’s abiding aim before his untimely death in January 2006 was to use his position in the upper house (where he was instated as Lord Stratford in 2005) to push for a national museum of parliamentary history. This may yet happen. But in the meantime, Tony Banks’ contribution to the subject of political art and collecting remains both publicly evident in the precincts of Westminster and is the inspiration for this memorial charity. The Tony Banks Memorial Trust will use its funds to facilitate institutions to acquire and commission works of art that are historically relevant to their purpose or mission. Any registered historical institution or museum in Britain will be eligible. The Trust has recently contributed to the purchase by Dorset County Museum of three portraits of the Rackett family by George Romney, and the purchase by Falmouth Art Gallery of a study for ‘Labourers’ by Sir John Arnesby Brown. |
Philip Mould OBE
For enquiries about the Trust, or to make a pledge, please e-mail or write to Trustees:
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