Arthur Segal: picture lending and an artist’s life

For much of his life the Rumanian-born artist Arthur Segal championed the cause of picture lending for the benefit of the public and as a means of helping artists to earn a living. In Germany in the mid-1920s, Segal put forward his plans for lending institutions for works of art, akin to lending libraries for books. Widespread support was not forthcoming, and an experimental scheme organised by an artists’ association in Berlin ceased in 1927. Segal could give only qualified support to an alternative concept of hire purchase. Arthur Segal settled in England in 1936; some years after his death, his ideas contributed to the devising of an art loan scheme, launched by the London Borough of Holborn public library, which featured the work of local artists. Segal deserves to be remembered; his life and achievements have been celebrated by exhibitions in Berlin and Cologne, and the following article has been translated into English so that his ideas and endeavours can be more widely appreciated.