GORDON BROWN, it seems, cannot entirely escape the influence of Tony Blair.

When the new prime minister was asked by his staff what paintings he would like for his family flat in Downing Street, Brown simply replied: “Get me a few nice landscapes.”

So what have they come back with? A picture by one of the Blair family’s favourite artists, Euan Uglow, who famously painted the young Cherie nearly naked.

Another of the paintings may also not be an obvious choice - it is a view by John Aldridge of Richmond, North Yorkshire, home of the artist and constituency of William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary and former Tory leader.

“I think somebody is making a bit of gentle mischief with these choices,” said David Lee, editor of Jackdaw, the art magazine.

Brown and his wife Sarah have approved six of the paintings chosen for their flat from the government art collection of 13,000 works that hang in official buildings and embassies.

The Uglow picture, painted in 1985, is of a landscape in northern Cyprus, although the artist, who died in 2000, was best known for his figurative work, particularly of female nudes.

He painted Cherie Booth in the late 1970s when she was a young law student and reportedly paid her £5 an hour for sittings. Uglow refused to show the picture of the naked Booth while he was alive and it was put on the website of his old gallery only last year. It is said the Blairs called their son Euan after him.

“All six pictures are what I would call respectable choices,” said William Feaver, the art critic. “None is challenging in any way.” Aldridge’s picture shows a few houses with trees in the background. “It is very easy on the eye,” said Feaver.

The others are Patrick George’s Valley Farm; Philip Sut-ton’s Heathland; Susan Hawker’s Two Trees; and Mark Thompson’s Towards Norway which, fittingly for the brooding Brown, is “moody and dark”.

Brown's landscapes: what the Browns have chosen for the Downing Street flat

Euan Uglow, North Cyprus

John Aldridge, Richmond, North Yorkshire

Susan Hawker, Two Trees

Philip Sutton, Heathland

Mark Thompson, Towards Norway

Patrick George, Valley Farm

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010