A lecturer from London's Tate Gallery is so impressed with the Masterworks collection that she believes it could itself become a loan exhibit and sent to museums and galleries overseas.

Ms Marlee Robinson, who considers herself "at least half-Bermudian'' (her parents have maintained a home here since she was seven years old) is a lecturer/guide at the Tate and also acts as personal assistant and administrator to world-renowned sculptor Professor Sir Eduardo Paolozzi.

And later this month, she will take time out of her annual visit home to give a talk and slide show for Masterworks on "Cubism -- Private Art Goes Public''.

"I think the concept of bringing back and putting on show the ways in which artists saw Bermuda with different eyes is a great idea. Even those who came here on holiday to have a rest couldn't resist doing the quick sketch or painting!'' She makes the point that the collection has a unifying theme (Bermuda) so that all the paintings are connected in an emotional, as well as a practical way.

Voicing her approval of the lay-out of the National Gallery which allows large, dramatic works to be shown in the main gallery and smaller, intimate pictures in the low-ceilinged entrance hall, Ms Robinson says she is also very impressed by the generosity of the public.

"There is an incredibly high quality of art being loaned from private collections -- obviously, people here have a good eye!'' She praises the air of co-operation between the National Gallery and Masterworks and was especially interested to find out that a major African art show by the Gallery is slated for later in the year.

"I was very intrigued by the title of the African show -- Secrecy: African Art that Conceals and Reveals -- because in a way, it ties in with the theme of the talk I am going to give for Masterworks.

"Picasso, who with Braque, was one of the innovators of cubism, had an interesting collection of African art which had a tremendous influence on his own work. But in those early days, when he was experimenting with cubism he did so in private. So for a long time, it was an aspect of his work that was concealed from the public. In that sense, there is a strong connection between my talk and the theme of the African show.'' The other connection, of course, is the fact that Masterworks is now the proud owner of two works by Albert Gleizes, an important French artist associated with the Cubist movement, who visited and painted in Bermuda.

Ms Robinson will be making particular reference to Gleizes' work and his influence on the development of modern art.

"I think it is interesting that right after Gleizes visited Bermuda, he proclaimed that he had found God!'' Besides her job as a freelance lecturer to art societies and groups throughout the UK and for the general public at the Tate Gallery, Ms Robinson wears what she calls her "other hat'' in her capacity as personal assistant and one-woman public relations team for Eduardo Paolozzi. The controversial sculptor, born in Edinburgh to Italian parents who ran an ice cream shop, became one of the world's most highly acclaimed artists. Besides his dramatic, heroic-scale works that now adorn an array of public buildings from Europe to Hong Kong, he is also well known for his tapestries, mosaics, ceramics, and even books and films.

The rather loose title of assistant/administrator to the great man finds Ms Robinson overseeing his commissions, from the foundry to installation stage and liaising with the media who deal with Sir Eduardo's vast output of work.

He also provides the subject for many of her lectures which range from the Impressionists, through to contemporary British painting and sculpture.

Ms Robinson's illustrated talk will take place in the National Gallery on Sunday, January 17 at 4 p.m. Tickets, which include tea, are $12.50 ($10 for members) and may be reserved by calling 295-5580.

Ms Marlee Robinson.