'Sporting chance' of saving £50m painting

Published on Thursday 28 August 2008 22:05

THE National Galleries of Scotland have a "sporting chance" of raising enough money to save a £50 million Titian painting for the nation, the galleries chairman insisted yesterday.

Sir Brian Ivory said funding from the Scottish Government to buy Diana and Actaeon would ideally be packaged with private donations in a "team effort".

He would not be drawn on figures yesterday, but it is thought the Scottish Government would be approached for 10 million towards a purchase that would save for the public not just one painting, but an entire collection of 28 Old Masters.

The businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Farmer, a significant donor to the galleries in the past, gave his stamp of approval to the purchase effort.

"Every effort must be made to make sure these paintings stay in Scotland," he said yesterday. "They are very important to the country and the culture."

The Duke of Sutherland, the owner of the Bridgewater collection of 28 Old Masters that have hung in the galleries for 60 years, has decided to sell paintings from a collection now valued at more than 1 billion. The galleries have effectively been given first refusal on two works.

In partnership with the National Gallery in London, the NGS have until 31 December to secure 50 million to buy one Titian painting, and another, Diana and Callisto, for a similar sum four years later. The price is said to be far below their market value of perhaps 300 million.

One leading fundraising expert said what the effort now needed was a lead donor to step in with as much as 10 per cent of the cash to galvanise support.

"It's a lot of money and fundraising is particularly challenging at the moment. You are dealing with the economic circumstances of uncertainty, so that many people that might want to support such a thing may simply feel their own wealth is less certain than it might be."

But there were some "incredibly wealthy" givers who had enough cash to ride out the recession, he said.

Major banks, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, that support cultural institutions had seen their positions deteriorate.

Dr Duncan Thomson, former director of the National Portrait Gallery, called on the Scottish and Westminster governments to come to the aid of the National Galleries.

Dr Thomson said: "I'm very concerned for the galleries – 50 million is a huge sum of money, and in such a short period of time it is quite a terrifying prospect. Everyone immediately thinks of Lottery funding as the way out, but the Scottish and English governments have to invest if we are to keep the paintings in Scotland.

"The governments should see the wisdom that there is in investing, as cultural tourism is an enormous earner."

Dr Thomson also said that the credit crunch would make fundraising much harder. "Normally, the galleries could rely on big corporate funding, but I just can't see it because of the recession. It makes fundraising much more difficult.

"The big three Scottish banks don't have the money for this kind of thing at the moment.

"The Dunard Fund (an arts-supporting charity] would only be able to put forward 1 million or 2 million at best."

The Scottish Government claimed it had known about the situation for some time, but could not confirm how much would be given to the galleries.

A spokeswoman said: "The National Galleries have been given a significant funding pledge from Scottish ministers around which a fundraising campaign can be built.

"Scottish ministers are aware of the national importance of the Bridgewater collection to Scotland," she said. "The international position and prestige of our National Galleries play a major role in attracting tourists, contributing to our economy and promoting Scotland's identity abroad."

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Despite the fundraising, there will undoubtedly be a shortfall in the amount of money required.

"At that point we will see how much money can be found, and no doubt the Scottish Government will do the same.

"That has not happened yet, and will not happen for a number of weeks, but we accept the tremendous importance of the piece and the duke's generosity in offering it considerably below the market value."

He also said that the duke had been extremely helpful in offering to receive the payments in three yearly instalments.