National Gallery brings art to the streets

The streets of London are being turned into an art gallery for 12 weeks as over 30 full-size replicas of famous paintings are hung around the city.

'The Grand Tour' is the result of a collaboration between HP and The National Gallery. 

Copies of masterpieces from Caravagio to Constable will vie for position on city streets from Soho to Seven Dials.

National Gallery director Charles Saumarez Smith described the scheme as a " characteristically imaginative" way to bring art into the local community and to encourage a new audience to take an interest in art.

Each painting will be in a replica frame, and will be accompanied by a plaque listing a phone number which people can call to access a specially recorded audio guide to that particular work.

Steve Gill, vice president and managing director of HP UK & Ireland, said: "Our imaging, printing capabilities and portfolio has enabled us to support the National Gallery with this Grand Tour concept by producing high quality colour reproductions of these wonderful masterpieces."

The replicas are printed on HP's new DesignJet 10000 low solvent printers, which are 2.6m wide and capable of printing up to 30 square metres per hour.

The displays are printed using a solvent ink that provides a minimum lifespan of three years, even in harsh outdoor environments.

They are resistant to light, water, stains, bleach and abrasion. HP said that it will not actually be protecting the canvas in any way.

Lord Mayor of Westminster, councillor Carolyn Keen, said at the opening of the Grand Tour that the initiative would help "encourage people to explore, not only the heart of the city, but the National Gallery as well".

The Grand Tour website includes a selection of 'mini-tours' and further information about the paintings, the story of how the project came about, audio downloads and a picture gallery.

HP has a long-standing relationship with the National Gallery that began around a decade ago when HP started a project to digitise the gallery's entire collection for reference purposes.

The project culminated in the print-and-go service which allows visitors to print copies of paintings at the gallery itself.

The origins of the Grand Tour date back to the 17th century, when wealthy upper class individuals undertook a journey of cultural enlightenment across Europe in a life-changing trip that could last for months or even years.