Alfred Longden

Because he was an outstanding organiser of Government-sponsored art exhibitions, when it was decided to include art competitions in the 1948 London Olympic programme, Alfred Longden was appointed director of arts. He had previously been responsible for applied arts at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, and at the Paris International Exhibition of Decorative Art the following year.

The son of a Sunderland solicitor, Longden was educated at Durham School and then the Royal College of Art. He occasionally exhibited at the Royal Academy, and his favourite pastime was sketching. He was director of the Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum between 1909-11 before joining the Exhibitions Branch of the Board of Trade in 1912, involving himself in all their exhibitions at home and abroad.

During World War I, Longden served with the Royal Garrison Artillery and was awarded the DSO in 1917, and was twice mentioned in dispatches. After the War, Longden was, until 1925, director of the British Institute of Industrial Art. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, in 1939, Longden retired from his post with the Board of Trade and was appointed secretary of the Fine Art Committee of the British Council.