The National Gallery of Jamaica has stepped up its efforts to locate the paintings following queries from members of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee about their whereabouts.
inadequate controls
Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis had reported that controls over the movement of artwork at the gallery were inadequate.
In her annual report, the auditor general said several paintings owned by the gallery that were loaned to government agencies could not be located.
In a release yesterday, the National Gallery of Jamaica said that five paintings that were loaned to Jamaica House were still being sought. The pieces are Mallica 'Kapo' Reynolds' 'Jack's River', Stafford Schliefer's 'Patch Blue', Osmond Watson's 'The Agony and the Ecstasy of Revival', 1971, Alexander Cooper's 'Group of Market Women Selling', and Albert Huie's 'Morgan's Harbour'.
three unaccounted for
The other three works of art that cannot be accounted for at this time are Eric Smith's 'Jamaica Scenery', last located at the former Ministry of Development, Planning, and Production on Oxford Road, Alexander Cooper's 'Three Huts', and Anthony Butts' 'Tropical Flowers', last seen at the Jamaica High Commission in Trinidad.
Executives at the gallery are insisting that there was no evidence at this time to indicate that any of the paintings are permanently lost.