The world’s leading exhibition house has been rocked by a scandal involving the art of the gilded age.
The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that it had discovered a cache of work by famed artist Frank Stella and his wife Anna Stella at the British Museum.
The scandal has put the spotlight on the work of Stella, who died in 1973, and his art.
Stella’s work, which was commissioned by Queen Victoria, was in storage for more than 50 years until a new curator took it to the British Library in 2016.
The catalogue revealed the contents of a collection of artworks, including the original paintings of Stella’s and Anna’s work.
“The British Museum is in the process of taking the Stella collection to its full potential,” a statement from the British museum read.
“This includes the use of the Stella catalogue as the basis for the production of a catalogue of the artist’s paintings.”
Stella died in 1972, aged 87.
The couple’s marriage ended in divorce in 1972.
The British Library has refused to release a statement, and Stella has declined to comment.
However, a spokesperson for the British Art Museum said the British art museum was aware of the story and was “looking into it”.
The statement added that the British artist’s catalogue would not be published in the British public domain, but the British government had no official policy on artworks.
Stellas work is a key example of the influence of the art world in the world’s oldest museum.
The work is said to have been commissioned by King George VI to decorate the royal apartments of the palace of Westminster.
In a letter, the Queen said the work, in the Royal Collection, was an “extraordinary contribution to our nation”.
Stella had a “profound interest” in politics, and worked on the royal portraits of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary I.
Stello’s work has been used to decorates royal residences since the 19th century.
In 1786, the artist painted a portrait of Queen Victoria.
In 1837, he painted the portrait of the future Queen Elizabeth II.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the British and American art worlds developed a love affair with Stella’s work which he called “the art of grace”.
In 1894, Stella commissioned a painting of the Queen and her sister, Queen Elizabeth.
The Queen’s portrait was painted by one of her own assistants.
The painting sold for £3,500 and was given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The Royal Collection at the museum has been on display for the past 35 years.
A spokeswoman for the museum said that the catalogue was being kept in storage, and would be released at a later date.
“We are delighted to see the British National Gallery open a new exhibition about the world-famous Stella and Anna Stella collection,” she said.
“We look forward to seeing this remarkable art at the public gallery, in London.”