Disraeli Photo Among 65 Missing Parliamentary Artworks, FoI Reveals
An inquiry under the freedom of information act by the Press Association has uncovered that since 2024, more than 65 pieces from the UK Parliamentary Art Collection have been reported missing. Among the lost items are a photograph of Benjamin Disraeli taken by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, an engraved portrait of William Wilberforce, a satirical cartoon featuring Barbara Castle, a photo of Margaret Beckett, and a 1995 cartoon by Martin Rowson. A spokesperson for Parliament mentioned that the collection is continually audited to minimize the number of missing items. With a total of 26,000 objects, the current count of missing items is significantly lower than the 224 reported in 2018. Rowson remarked that missing cartoons are not unusual, referencing previous occurrences.
Key facts
- More than 65 works of art from the UK Parliamentary Art Collection have gone missing since 2024.
- Missing items include a photograph of Benjamin Disraeli by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, an engraving of William Wilberforce by William Holl and Francis Holl, a cartoon of Barbara Castle as Florence Nightingale, a photograph of Margaret Beckett, and a 1995 cartoon by Martin Rowson.
- The Press Association obtained the list via a freedom of information request.
- A parliamentary spokesperson said the collection is a working collection and that none of the works have been permanently written off.
- Five of the missing works have been found this year.
- The collection contains 26,000 objects, including furniture and decorative arts.
- In 2018, a similar FoI request found 224 works missing, including portraits of William Pitt the Younger and a wartime painting by William John MacLeod.
- Martin Rowson commented that missing cartoons are not uncommon and that his 2004 cartoon sent to Denis MacShane never got beyond reception.
Entities
Artists
- Benjamin Disraeli
- William Wilberforce
- Barbara Castle
- Margaret Beckett
- Martin Rowson
- John Jabez Edwin Mayall
- William Holl
- Francis Holl
- John Major
- Michael Heseltine
- Michael Portillo
- Denis MacShane
- William Pitt the Younger
- William John MacLeod
- Charles Dickens
- Karl Marx
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- Anna Bishop
- Michael Faraday
- David Livingstone
- Queen Victoria
- Florence Nightingale
- Hogarth
- Gillray
Institutions
- Parliamentary Art Collection
- Press Association
- Art UK
- Royal Collection
- British Cartoonists' Association
- British Council
- Nato
- Foreign Office
- Labour Party
- Conservative Party
Locations
- United Kingdom
- Serbia
- London