Back in nineteen ninety something my family took a trip out east and stopped in Washington, DC. My mom, sister and I spent part of the time in the National Gallery of Art. I remember gazing with reverence at paintings that I had studied in my college Humanities class. I wanted to document the experience by taking pictures. A near-by guard kindly explained that I was welcome to take pictures as long as the flash was off. He helpfully suggested that if I stood at an angle to the picture, I would likely not have a glare when I had them developed. (Yes, this was before digital cameras. Call me ancient!) I have a number of pictures of paintings I had either studied or just liked.
Fast forward almost ten years and I'm in the British National Gallery of Art. Based on my previous experience I have my digital camera ready to go and excited that I would be able to document the paintings I would see. Being the upstanding citizen that I am, I approached a museum employee/volunteer to verify that I could take pictures.
I still remember the look of absolute horror on her face. It was like I had offered her a plate of fried eyeballs--curry or sweet and sour? I slunk away completely embarrassed. How was I to know the British considered taking pictures of paintings akin to treason? Sheesh!
It hadn't helped that when we had visited the British Museum the day before I could take pictures of whatever I wanted. Like this copy of the Discus Thrower:
Or the Rosetta Stone (focus isn't that great):
Or how about sections of the Parthenon:
Feel free to takes pictures of any and all. Just don't point anything at a painting.
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