The National Gallery is set to lose the 16th-century painting by Titian, Portrait of a Young Man. The Earl of Halifax, who loaned the painting to the gallery in 1992, announced he was selling it last month.
The Earl originally offered to sell the painting, said to be worth about £50m, to the National Gallery and National Galleries of Scotland, but after two years of negotiations they failed to agree a price.
Both sides refused to reveal the figures they had put on the table, and the Earl would not be drawn on why he wanted to sell the painting. A spokesman for the Earl said: 'He has demonstrated a preference for the painting to remain in the UK and available to the public. The likelihood now must be that the picture will pass to an overseas buyer.'
No formal application was made to the National Art Collections Fund (Art Fund) for funds because a sale price was not agreed. A spokeswoman for the National Gallery confirmed that there had been a 'wide list of possible funders' waiting in the wings. If the painting was sold overseas, it would be 'a great loss to the gallery and to the UK public', she said.
Brian Sewell, the London-based art critic, said that £50m wasn't off the mark for the painting. 'It is the only picture of its kind, interesting because the subject is not Italian and because of the understanding it conveys between painter and sitter,' he told Museums Journal.
Sewell blamed the loss of the painting on a lack of government funding and on the priorities of the gallery. 'The National Gallery knew the picture was for sale while negotiating to keep Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks at all costs. It turns out those costs include the Titian. This is a much more important painting than the Madonna of the Pinks.'
The Madonna of the Pinks was purchased for £22m in February 2004, with grants of £11.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £400,000 from the Art Fund, and private donations. The National Gallery declined to respond to Sewell's comments.
A notice of intention of sale has been posted on the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's website and, under the rules governing items conditionally exempted from tax, UK museums and galleries have three months in which they can buy the Titian as a private treaty sale.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed that it was watching the progress of the sale, but declined to comment on whether an export ban might be placed on the painting if a foreign buyer emerged.
Patrick Steel
The Earl originally offered to sell the painting, said to be worth about £50m, to the National Gallery and National Galleries of Scotland, but after two years of negotiations they failed to agree a price.
Both sides refused to reveal the figures they had put on the table, and the Earl would not be drawn on why he wanted to sell the painting. A spokesman for the Earl said: 'He has demonstrated a preference for the painting to remain in the UK and available to the public. The likelihood now must be that the picture will pass to an overseas buyer.'
No formal application was made to the National Art Collections Fund (Art Fund) for funds because a sale price was not agreed. A spokeswoman for the National Gallery confirmed that there had been a 'wide list of possible funders' waiting in the wings. If the painting was sold overseas, it would be 'a great loss to the gallery and to the UK public', she said.
Brian Sewell, the London-based art critic, said that £50m wasn't off the mark for the painting. 'It is the only picture of its kind, interesting because the subject is not Italian and because of the understanding it conveys between painter and sitter,' he told Museums Journal.
Sewell blamed the loss of the painting on a lack of government funding and on the priorities of the gallery. 'The National Gallery knew the picture was for sale while negotiating to keep Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks at all costs. It turns out those costs include the Titian. This is a much more important painting than the Madonna of the Pinks.'
The Madonna of the Pinks was purchased for £22m in February 2004, with grants of £11.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £400,000 from the Art Fund, and private donations. The National Gallery declined to respond to Sewell's comments.
A notice of intention of sale has been posted on the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's website and, under the rules governing items conditionally exempted from tax, UK museums and galleries have three months in which they can buy the Titian as a private treaty sale.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed that it was watching the progress of the sale, but declined to comment on whether an export ban might be placed on the painting if a foreign buyer emerged.
Patrick Steel
