Thornton Heath public library, which under Conservative Mayor Jason Perry is routinely only open three days each week, is open today and through the rest of this week as part of a National Gallery tour which is bringing a landscape by the 19th Century master, John Constable, to CR7.
They will even be open until Sunday, July 8, for the exhibit.
Piss-poor Perry, the borough’s only-just-elected Mayor, has of course hailed the arrival of the artwork from the National Gallery as some kind of endorsement for the misfiring, bungled Borough of Culture year.
In fact, the arrival of the painting only serves to highlight how the people of Thornton Heath are denied access to culture for half of most weeks when their library on Brigstock Road is shut.
Pastoral scene: The Cornfield, by John Constable, on display in Thornton Heath this week
The National Gallery’s tour is taking the 1826 Cornfield (“much-loved”, they say) to a different location each week “popping up in secret locations across the UK”.
The painting is just one of more than 2,300 works in the National Gallery collection. This one is being trotted out for a couple of months in an ever-so-slightly patronising manner, having so far been displayed on the Isle of Wight, and in Basildon, Jarrow and Dudley. How marvellous!
“This week your National Gallery comes to your high street with John Constable’s painting, The Cornfield. Come and see this incredible painting, alongside views of rural Croydon and visit on Saturday July 8 for special family day with performances and activities in the library’s garden!”
Lovely. Then next week, in piss-poor Perry’s Croydon, it’s back to normal as the library reverts to being closed on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday…
Thornton Heath Library with the National Gallery exhibition is open today until 6pm, then Wednesday until Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 5pm.
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