Record year for Acceptance in Lieu scheme
More than 30 cases of major cultural gifts to public collections in 2012/13
Public collections gained £49.4m worth of artworks and cultural objects through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme in 2012/13, including items accepted through the new cultural gifts scheme such as letters and lyrics penned by John Lennon and now permanently housed in the British Library in London.
The Acceptance in Lieu scheme allows people to offset inheritance tax bills by donating important cultural, scientific or historic objects to the nation.
Arts Council England (ACE) said there were more than 30 cases of major cultural significance and beauty allocated during the year. Since 2004, £224.9m of cultural objects have been acquired for the nation.
Peter Bazalgette, chairman of ACE, said the scheme achieved unprecedented commercial value in 2012/13.
“In 2012/13 the Acceptance in Lieu scheme brought treasures with an unprecedented commercial value into the national collections," he said. "If their sale had been on the open market, these works of art might have been lost to us forever: instead, this report details the beautiful and fascinating objects that can now be enjoyed by the public.”
Among the recipients in 2012/14 was the Hepworth Wakefield, which was allocated a 1963 sculpture by Barbara Hepworth as its first Acceptance in Lieu object.
Other first time allocatees include the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead, which received a collection of 20th century studio ceramics, and the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, which was given the maquette by Kathleen Scott of the statue of her husband in Waterloo Place in Central London.
The Bowes Museum in Bishop Auckland in County Durham received one of JMW Turner’s paintings of Lowther Castle, its first allocation in nearly 25 years. And a portrait of John and Sarah Earle by Sir Peter Lely (pictured) was given to Norfolk Museum Service.
A number of objects await permanent allocation and will be announced on the arts council’s website.
Other notable gifts include a portrait of John Ruskin by John Millais to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford; the only known surviving works from the first Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS) in September 1966 to Tate on a temporary basis; and papers of Charles Darwin to Cambridge University Library pending a decision on their permanent allocation.
The Acceptance in Lieu scheme allows people to offset inheritance tax bills by donating important cultural, scientific or historic objects to the nation.
Arts Council England (ACE) said there were more than 30 cases of major cultural significance and beauty allocated during the year. Since 2004, £224.9m of cultural objects have been acquired for the nation.
Peter Bazalgette, chairman of ACE, said the scheme achieved unprecedented commercial value in 2012/13.
“In 2012/13 the Acceptance in Lieu scheme brought treasures with an unprecedented commercial value into the national collections," he said. "If their sale had been on the open market, these works of art might have been lost to us forever: instead, this report details the beautiful and fascinating objects that can now be enjoyed by the public.”
Among the recipients in 2012/14 was the Hepworth Wakefield, which was allocated a 1963 sculpture by Barbara Hepworth as its first Acceptance in Lieu object.
Other first time allocatees include the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead, which received a collection of 20th century studio ceramics, and the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, which was given the maquette by Kathleen Scott of the statue of her husband in Waterloo Place in Central London.
The Bowes Museum in Bishop Auckland in County Durham received one of JMW Turner’s paintings of Lowther Castle, its first allocation in nearly 25 years. And a portrait of John and Sarah Earle by Sir Peter Lely (pictured) was given to Norfolk Museum Service.
A number of objects await permanent allocation and will be announced on the arts council’s website.
Other notable gifts include a portrait of John Ruskin by John Millais to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford; the only known surviving works from the first Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS) in September 1966 to Tate on a temporary basis; and papers of Charles Darwin to Cambridge University Library pending a decision on their permanent allocation.