A set of much-loved leather benches that used to provide solace for worn-out visitors at the National Gallery in London are now housed at Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
The National Gallery sold off the benches last year through the Bellmans auction house, with the items going for around £1,200 a piece (the seats sold are modern reproductions, made mostly in the 1990s). A spokesperson told us previously that “[the red leather benches] are not fire rated to the necessary required safety standards and are difficult to clean, which causes risks to the paintings from pests”.
According to The Telegraph, several of the benches have since been installed in the Morgan Great Hall at Wadsworth Atheneum. An online film produced by the Wadsworth highlights the furniture switch, saying that “from one historic art museum to another, two Victorian-style gallery benches have recently crossed an ocean to continue their museum careers here at the Wadsworth”. We hope they get many more years of supporting tired art lovers’ bums.