Graphical version

Hayward Gallery

Hayward Gallery

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 1464

Held at: Hayward Gallery

Title: Hayward Gallery

Date(s): 1942-2003

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: approximately 80 linear meters

Name of creator(s): Hayward Gallery | 1968-present
London County Council | 1889-1965
Greater London Council | 1965-1986
Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts | 1940-1945
Arts Council of Great Britain | 1945-1994
Arts Council of England | 1994-

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

There was a clear need for a London exhibition gallery as early as 1949 to accommodate large international exhibitions, which other European capitals were able to do with ease. The Arts Council of Great Britain (ACGB) founded 1945, the incorporated successor of the Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA), had made use of other galleries for large exhibitions.
In 1958, the London County Council announced its intention to build an exhibition gallery on the South Bank to provide a space for large exhibitions. They generously agreed to lease the gallery to the Arts Council at a peppercorn rent. The Gallery was designed by the Greater London Council's Department of Architecture and Civic Design led by Geoffrey Horsefall. It was completed by the end of 1967, and the Greater London Council (successor to the London County Council) named it the Hayward Gallery in honour of Sir Isaac Hayward whose personal initiative and was largely responsible for the complex of buildings devoted to the arts on the South Bank.

The Queen opened the Hayward Gallery and its first exhibition - a retrospective of paintings of Henri Matisse - on 9 July 1968.

In 1987 responsibility for managing the Hayward was transferred from the Arts Council to the South Bank Centre, along with the Council's Visual Arts Exhibition Department and the Arts Council Collection, and the Hayward became a client of the Arts Council. The Hayward continued to house and administer the Arts Council Collection, begun in 1946 and comprising more than 7000 works by British artists, on behalf of the Arts Council.

The Hayward's programme concentrates on four areas, including single artist shows, historical themes and artistic movements, art of other cultures and contemporary group shows, as well as running programmes of educational activities including tours, lectures and workshops. The Hayward also organises National Touring Exhibitions with about 25 shows annually touring all over Britain, and every five years mounts a large-scale exhibition known as The British Art Show.

Hayward exhibitions include: Matisse (1968); Frescoes from Florence (1969); Rodin (1970 & 1987); Bridget Riley (1971 & 1992); Lucian Freud (1974 & 1988); the series of Hayward Annuals (1977-1986); Dada & Surrealism Reviewed (1978); Thirties (1980); Edward Hopper (1981); Picasso's Picassos (1981); Renoir (1985); Leonardo Da Vinci (1989); Andy Warhol (1989); The Other Story: Afro-Asian artists in post-war Britain (1989); Art in Latin America (1989); Richard Long (1991); Toulouse-Lautrec (1992); Magritte (1992); The Art of Ancient Mexico (1992); Yves Klein (1995); Howard Hodgkin (1996); Art and Power (1995); Anish Kapoor (1998); Bruce Nauman (1998); Lucio Fontana (1999); Paul Klee (2002)

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Archives of the Hayward Gallery (HG) comprising:

Files relating to the HG policy and administration, 1994-2003; files relating to HG exhibitions, 1987-2003; files relating to the Arts Council Collection exhibitions and National Touring Exhibitions, 1994-2003;

printed exhibition leaflets, 1987-2003; printed posters advertising HG exhibitions and National Touring Exhibitions, 1968-2003;

printed private view invitation cards for Arts Council exhibitions (ACGB-1994) (including HG and National Touring Exhibitions), 1968-2003;
printed guides to HG Exhibitions, 1979-2003; printed catalogues for Arts Council Collection Exhibitions, 1950-2003; printed catalogues for HG and National Touring Exhibitions (including some from CEMA) 1942-2003;

HG press releases, 1978-2003; press cuttings relating to exhibitions and the Gallery, 1968-2003;
photographs of Hayward exhibition installations, 1968-2003; and National Touring Exhibitions including the Arts Council Collection, 1975-2003.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Exhibition files are generally arranged alphabetically and chronologically by exhibition title. Private View invitations are arranged chronologically by location of exhibition.

Conditions governing access:

By appointment only. Contact the Archivist, Hayward Gallery, Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London SE1 8XX.
Some material is subject to the regulations of the Data Protection Act 1998. Exhibition files are generally closed, however non-sensitive information may be released from them at the discretion of the archivist.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies available at the discretion of the Archivist.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Handlists exist for most of the collection.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Accruals:

Regular accruals of the material relating to ongoing work of developing exhibitions, policy and administration.

Archival history:

The Hayward Gallery collection was created by the Arts Council's Visual Arts Exhibition Department and housed in their premises at 105 Picadilly. This Department was transferred from the Council to the South Bank Centre in 1987, and the archive relocated to Royal Festival Hall. Arts Council of Great Britain (ACGB) became Arts Council England (ACE) in 1994. As a result of this, records of the Arts Council (exhibition administration files, 1945-1987, and Arts Council Collection files and touring exhibition files, 1945-1994), previously housed with the Hayward Gallery archive, were transferred, to the Archive of Art and Design administered by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in December 1999, to become the ACGB archive. The Hayward Gallery archive collection is seen as distinct from both the Arts Council (ACGB) archive (1945-1994) and the South Bank Centre (Royal Festival Hall) archive.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Created and held in situ by the Gallery.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

The Hayward Gallery also holds a library collection of art related works.

Files relating to Arts Council (ACGB) exhibitions, 1945-1987, and Arts Council Collection files and National Touring Exhibitions, 1945-1994, held by the Archive of Art and Design, part of the Victoria and Albert Museum, at Olympia, London.For papers of artists, refer to the Historical Manuscripts Commission Artist's Papers Register http://www.hmc.gov.uk/artists/

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Sources: Historical Manuscripts Commission's On-Line National Register of Archives; material contained in the archive relating to its establishment.
Compiled by Alison Field as part of the London Signpost Survey Project.