A LARGE selection of paintings from one of the world's top ten privately owned art collections was given a public launch in Teesdale last Friday by the man responsible for some of the most famous song lyrics of the twentieth century.

Sir Tim Rice, renowned for such musicals as Evita, Chess and The Lion King, was at the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle to officially open a display of 59 paintings by various artists that are on loan from his London home.

Sir Tim became involved with the museum when its director, Adrian Jenkins, was researching the whereabouts of a Pissaro painting - Donkey Ride at La Roche-Guyon - for last winter's well-received Road to Impressionism exhibition.

Discovering that it was in Sir Tim's collection, he wrote to the world-famous lyricist, who agreed to its loan.

"When the exhibition finished, his personal assistant said Sir Tim was pleased that it had gone well and was sure he would be amenable if we wanted to borrow anything in the future," said Mr Jenkins.

He immediately wrote back, and within a few days had received a reply asking if he and keeper of fine arts Amy Barker would like to go to Sir Tim's London home to choose pictures for an exhibition.

"I am having an extension built and my house redecorated," Sir Tim told the D&S Times. "So I was delighted to lend the paintings rather than having to put them into storage."

He described the Bowes as a fabulous place. "I had heard of it, as one of the great museums of the North, but this is my first visit," he said. "It is quite extraordinary, both in itself and its setting. I am knocked sideways."

He talked of how he began his collection in 1971, though he would not have described it as a collection at the start.

"I had no interest in investing in business schemes or stocks and shares, but I did like paintings," he said. His first major purchase was Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus, by the Victorian artist, John William Waterhouse. He paid about £5,000 for it, which does not seem a great sum these days, but would have bought a reasonably sized semi-detached house in Teesdale at that time.

His display at the Bowes includes three more works by Waterhouse, as well as masterpieces by Cezanne, Degas, Hockney, Picasso, Pissaro, Rembrandt, Vettriano and Warhol, but as he has acquired them down the years, he is vague about what the pieces might be worth collectively these days.

He is delighted with the way the Bowes has hung the works. "When they have been in the same place in the same rooms for a long time, they become familiar, like a picture of your granny, and you can walk past them without really noticing them," he said. "So to see them in this setting is for me like looking at them afresh, like rediscovering old friends. When my house is finished and they come home I will definitely be swapping them around."

However, he doesn't have a favourite artist. "One's opinion changes all the time, depending on mood or what you happen to be interested in at the time," he said. But he is fond of a Walter Langley called On the Road, which is included in the exhibition, depicting a young woman leaving a village with a babe in arms. "It definitely has a feeling about it, as if she and the child are being been cast out," he said.

The D&S Times asked if he thought himself knowledgeable about art. Did he buy something because he liked it or because it was by a famous name, or both?

"I would not claim to be a world expert, but if you have had a genuine interest over a long period of time you get to know a bit about paintings," he responded. "I would never buy a painting if I did not like it, but having said that, most famous artists are good or they would not have become famous."

Though he has not been inspired to write by any particular painting, he feels that being surrounded by beautiful works of art is inspiring in general. "It is nice to have beautiful things around you rather than ugly ones, of course," he added. With this in mind he is delighted that his collection is being appreciated by so many people; visitors to the Bowes in July, when the display opened, were up by more than 1,000 compared to the same month last year.

"I did wonder whether anyone would want to come and see them, and am amazed and delighted that they do," he said. "I do get pleasure from knowing that they are giving other people pleasure."

With regard to modern works, he feels there is a place for artists like Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst, whose award-winning styles often invite controversy. He is a patron of Tate Modern, "although I feel I don't visit as often as I should."

He likes attending salerooms such as Sotheby's to eye up possible purchases, and receives calls from friends and contacts in the art world if they believe there is a particular picture going up for sale that might interest him. But not all his paintings are by famous artists.

"I have about 20 more at home of similar quality to the ones in this exhibition," he said. "But I also have some, such as prints that belonged to my father, that are important to me."

Did he agree with art critic Brian Sewell that the North-East is a cultural desert, its people not sophisticated enough to appreciate the recent Cobra exhibition at the Baltic? Looking around his surroundings with a wry smile, he answered firmly, No.

Welcoming him to the Bowes, Mr Jenkins said: "What a collection this is. The founders, John and Josephine, would have approved because they were themselves such eclectic collectors."

The exhibition runs until January 11, with the museum open daily from 11-5. Further details are available by telephoning 01833 690606 or by visiting the web site at www.bowesmuseum.org.uk.

Sheila Dixon