Still life with apples and pears

The present work is dedicated by Sir Matthew Smith to Richard Walker. Richard Walker was appointed first Advisor to the Government Art Collection in 1949 and became curator at the Palace of Westminster the following year. He built up the collection from almost no pictures in 1949 to over 5000 works by the time he retired in 1976 and is considered a pivotal figure in the success of the Government Art Collection as it is known today. He furnished ministerial offices and commissioned pictures of the Cornonation in 1953 from major British artists. In this capacity he came to know personally many British artists, particularly Paul Nash, Mark Gertler and Sir Matthew Smith. He produced several publications and on retiring catalogued the Regency Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, and the eighteenth and early nineteenth century miniatures in the Royal Collection. He completed his last catalogue a few days before his death in May 2010.