Skip to comments.

Posted on 07/04/2008 11:39:34 PM PDT by bruinbirdman

As if times were not grim enough for our sleepless Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has now revealed the works of art which he hangs on the walls of his office and flat at 10 Downing Street.

'Blood' by Howard Hodgkin

There is little cheer among some of the 200 or so paintings which include a hand-coloured lithograph by Howard Hodgkin, entitled "Blood" and depiction of dark Scottish hills - "A Scottish landscape" - by Norman Ackroyd.

'A Scottish Landscape' by Norman Ackroyd

Westminister sources suggested the Hodgkin painting could provide inspiration if Mr Brown decides to sack his neighbour Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, while the dour landscape could reflect the deep gloom felt by the PM now that Labour is languishing in the polls.

Elsewhere Mr Brown has picked out a series of 19th century hand-coloured woodcuts from the alphabet series by William Nicholson, including the "V is for Villain", the "E is for Executioner" and the "R is for Robber".

Westminster sources said they could be a reminder of one of Mr Brown's stealth tax raids on Middle England when he was Chancellor.

The other pictures listed are a 17th Century portrait by Rowland Lockey of Mary Queen of Scots - who was tried and executed by the English for treason - and a 2006 screen print in gold leaf, by Justine Smith, of the Euro single currency.

Alastair Sooke, art critic for The Daily Telegraph, said the pictures, which are owned by the Government Art Collection, showed that the PM had taste which was "impeccable but also conventional, and not in the least risk-taking, intrepid or inspired".

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.