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£20 million of art received in death deals
5 Nov 2009Art worth nearly £20 million including works by the living giants of British painting David Hockney, Frank Auerbach and Howard Hodgkin have been accepted for the nation.
Thirty-six works also including paintings by Titian, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Anthony van Dyck, were accepted last year under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme which allows those liable to pay death duties to pay their tax bill with important items of heritage.
Tax worth £10.8 million was written off in return and the works are allotted to museums and galleries across the country.
Announcing this year's report, Andrew Motion, chairman of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council which runs the scheme, said it was encouraging to celebrate such outstanding acquisitions at a time of economic gloom.
Some of the treasures have not been seen in public before such as a £1.05 million pastel version of Jean-Francois Millet's painting The Angelus which was last seen in public when the contents of his studio were sold following his death in 1875.
Sir Andrew added: “It is particularly exciting to see the rise in the number of modern painters whose works are coming through the scheme into public ownership - painters of international importance who have made such a significant contribution to the artistic and cultural standing of the UK.”
Two paintings by Hockney with a vlaue of £234,500 have been given to Tate. One, Study for Doll Boy, was produced when Cliff Richard's song, Living Doll, was in the charts, while the other, The Berliner and the Bavarian, was painted after he left the Royal College and went to Germany. Both were originally owned by Frith Banbury,a theatre producer, and his partner, Christopher Taylor, who were early supporters of the artist.
The National Portrait Gallery has been given initial custody of portrait by Sir Howard Hodgkin of Peter Cochrane, a respected art dealer, provisionally valued at £42,000. But a £175,000 portrait by Frank Auerbach of Julia Wolstenholme, is in the care of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art pending a decision on its permanent allocation.
This year's haul also includes the archive of Frank Martin, who was an inspirational teacher at St Martin's School in London from 1952 to 1979, where students included future stars Gilbert and George, Richard Long and Hamish Fulton.
Martin, who died in his 90th year in 2004, persuaded leading sculptors including Anthony Carol, Elisabeth Frink and Eduardo Paolozzi to teach. His archive has been provisionally valued at £56,000.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has received the £848,000 Bingley Cups, a pair of large Queen Anne silver-gilt cups, which it had previously exhibited on loan, as well as Portrait of the Vigor Family by London-born artist Joseph Highmore. Hampton Court Palace was awarded a £1.05 million Portrait of Princess Mary, the eldest daughter of Charles I, by Sir Anthony van Dyck because the work had originally hung there until 1647.
