CASE STUDYPainting:TorquayArtists (Display name):Wootton, FrankExecution date:1950Artists (Display dates):1911-1998Collection (Name):National RailwayMuseumThings:Sea, Yacht, Hotels, Church,Cloud, Boat, House, TownTypes:Landscape, SeascapePlace:TorquaySubjects:Natural world > Seas andcoasts; Towns and buildings >TownscapesAlthough Frank Wootton (1911-1998)was born at the seaside, the son of amerchant seaman, he made hisreputation in aviation as the RAF's official war artist in the Second WorldWar. But he was also an accomplishedlandscape and equestrian artist, and hepainted this happy view of Torquay in1950 as the artwork for a BritishRailways poster. It belongs to the National RailwayMuseum in York and has been one of the most popular among earlytaggers, which show what viewers havepicked out to learn more about, andsometimes to add their ownobservations. Following the guidelineson the website, it shows the detailedelements in terms of things such as thesea, the house on the foreshore, theyacht in the foreground. In more generalterms, people asked about Torquay itselfand the natural world to be seen inWootton's portrayal. The responses arebeing analysed and the results will beadded to the site.joined forces with the art historydepartment at Glasgow University andUK museums, galleries and art scholarsto devise the tagger idea and compilethe reference material that is bringingnon-experts into the project. The process is based on a set ofalgorithms, or procedural rules, thatkeep errors to a minimum. Alison Watt,the artist who is a trustee of the PCF,even gives a video guide (filmed in theMcLean Museum and Art Gallery inGreenock) through the tagging process."It makes you look into the painting,delve deeper," she says, "and youbecome involved in a world you neverknew existed. If everyone startstagging we'll get more and moreinformation about the paintings."Starting at the primary level, thetagger is presented with a randompicture and asked to think about whatcan be seen in it, offering examplessuch as 'mother' or 'beauty', and youwill be given a general explanation of theword you use. You move on to namingany people in the painting, then anyplaces you're put in mind of, thenNADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 201141PCF TAGGING PROJECTevents, the type of painting (abstract,landscape, portrait etc), and finally whatsubjects you see, with suggestions suchas 'fashion and costume' and 'religionand belief' to help. You then move on toa different painting and the procedurestarts again. The process becomesgradually more refined, and tags areincorporated into the information oneach painting for others to find."The project has a dual purpose," Ellissays, "to encourage viewers to spendmore time absorbing pictures, and to fillin missing information. "What's so striking is that it doesencourage you to look at paintings forlonger, and that's a wonderful pleasureand greatly satisfying. While the range ofknowledge of the paintings is wide,there are gaps in the smaller collectionsand our guess is that 10 per cent don'teven have firm artists' attributions -that's 20,000 paintings." "Tagging will also allow people tomake suggestions like the missingnames of sitters, and I think we'll get alot of response." www.thepcf.org.uk/your_paintingsLeft: The easy-to-use taggerfacility is helpingto generateuseful subjectclassifications foreach work of artPhoto: National Railway Museum © the artist's estate

42NADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 2011www.nadfas.org.ukUpstairs,downstairsThere was more to country house life than the contrast between the ease and comfort of 'upstairs' and thedaily grind of 'downstairs'. A new exhibition at the St Barbe Museum in Lymington reveals the bigger pictureThe ownership of land gave power,status and influence and so thehistory of the country housereveals more than just the lives of theowners or indeed the servants andfarmers who worked there. It tells usabout how lives were lived, money wasmade and lost, relationships wereformed and power was exercised.ST BARBE MUSEUMParlourmaid to Peer: Life on theCountry Estatesis a new exhibition atthe St Barbe Museum, a smallindependent museum and gallery in theGeorgian town of Lymington inHampshire. It tells the history of the localcommunity, which built its fortunes onsalt production and later as a centre foryachting and boatbuilding.The charm of life 'upstairs' is capturedin countless images, whetherdemonstrating the importance of theshoot for the gentlemen of the house orthe narrowly confined lives of the ladies.The photograph of a skating party is abeautiful image capturing how life couldbe lived and the highest standardsmaintained with an army of servants.Above: Servantsand estateworkers lined upat WainsfordHouse, c 1900