Alternative Take

Published on Tuesday 6 January 2009 20:49

LOURA BROOKS, from Edinburgh, argues for keeping the Titian

SCOTLAND is blessed with a national art collection that is the envy of other small countries. If the Sutherland collection is lost to the nation, there will be far fewer visitors to the Mound, fewer spending money in the caf, and so less money coming in to the galleries. Admission charges might need to be reintroduced, and this would have the effect of excluding young Scots from exploring their own visual culture and seeing how it connects to that of the larger world.

There is a reason that some works by certain artists are called "priceless". If Scotland loses these works, then a chance is gone to encounter paintings that not only are beautiful, but also speak for the place and time of their creation, as well as helping us understand the changes in artistic values and practice since they were created. What can be learned and experienced in front of such works cannot be quantified with a monetary value.

Ian Davidson MP has castigated the Scottish Government's contribution to keeping the Sutherland collection. The sum in question is a fraction of what was spent on the parliament building, the artistic merit of which is debatable, whereas the contribution made by Titian to world visual culture is in no doubt.

Would Mr Davidson be pouring scorn if it were a pair of Raeburns, or Kelvingrove's Dali, I wonder?