The Telegraph tries to have a little fun at Gordon Brown’s expense by detailing his choices of art for 10 Downing St.:
Not to be outdone by his predecessor, Tony Blair, who favoured edgy and expensive works by contemporary artists including David Hockney and Sir Peter Blake, Mr Brown’s foray into more abstract work includes American Tan XX by Gary Hume, the Turner-prize nominated artist. Suggesting, perhaps, that Mr Brown is a good listener, the picture features an ear painted with gloss paint on aluminium. It cost £88,125 and was hung in Downing Street between May and September 2008.
The works have all been lent to Downing Street from the Government Art Collection (GAC). Other items from the collection chosen to adorn the walls of Number 10 includeBook 1/1 by Fiona Banner, a print featuring the ISBN number of a book by the artist, and Sustenance 101 and Sustenance 104, two photographs by Neeta Madahar of birds eating from bird feeders.
Gordon Brown’s ‘love inspired’ Art Collection (Telegraph)