Petition to stop Hertfordshire County Council selling off its public art collection gathers over a thousand signatures

The council wants to ‘dispose of’ 91 per cent of its art collection.

A petition to try and stop Hertfordshire County Council selling off its publicly-owned art collection has gathered more than 1,200 signatures.

In January, the council announced plans to “dispose of” almost 91 per cent of its 1,826-strong collection, which has been built up using public funds since the 1940s.

 It contains works of both national and local significance, including pieces by artists such as Barbara Hepworth, Edward Wadsworth and Kenneth Rowntree.