Pay and display?

The Art Fund is celebrating its 100th birthday, and what better way to justify its existence to the public than with a fanfare exhibition - Saved! 100 Years of The National Art Collections Fund - in a recently refurbished gallery?

With the ongoing controversy surrounding Raphael's palm-sized Madonna of the Pinks - for which the Art Fund has stumped up £400,000 for the £11.5million needed by the National Gallery - the charity could certainly do with a bit of a PR lift.

There are, of course, treasures aplenty. From the National Gallery we have Vel·squez's The Rokeby Venus; from the Tate we have Picasso's Weeping Woman, and from the British Museum numerous ancient ethnographic displays.

Plucked from the green and quite pleasant Victoria Tower Gardens for the South Bank's concrete precinct, there is Rodin's recently spruced up Burghers Of Calais.

Hang on, can't we usually see these works for free? And isn't it a bit of a cheek for the Hayward to be charging £9, to see what has, after all, been purchased by the nation? If you're interested in art you will have seen the best of these works many times before.

But if your interest lies in putting a purchasing value on artworks, then this is for you. However, a word of warning - with 400 works spanning 4,500 years you have to disregard the aesthetics of good >display to enjoy it.

Until Jan 18, Hayward Gallery, South Bank SE1, daily 10am to 6pm (Tue and Wed till 8pm), £9, £6 concs. Tel: 020 7960 5226. Tube: Waterloo