PAINTINGS
A collection of modern art worth a-hundred-and-twenty-five-million pounds has become one of the largest such gifts ever to be made to galleries in Britain. The donation consists of paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures by thirty-two artists including Andy Warhol, Gilbert and George, and Damien Hirst. The Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland -- who will look after the pieces -- said they would transform the nation's collections of contemporary art. Our arts correspondent, Razia Iqbal, reports:
IQBAL: This gift of more than seven hundred works of art is being described as an extraordinary philanthropic gesture. The art dealer, Anthony D'Offay, is donating work which is conservatively valued at one-hundred-and-twenty-five million pounds. He will receive twenty-six-and-a-half million pounds, which is what he paid for the works originally. The collection, entrusted to the Tate galleries and the National galleries of Scotland, is expected to transform public access to contemporary art. Sir Nicholas Serota, Tate Director, described it as unlike anything anywhere in the art world:
SEROTA: In relation to the Tate it has to stand alongside the Henry Tate donation which formed the foundation the Tate gallery. This is obviously larger, but it's transformative in a completely different way.
IQBAL: The collection will not bear the donor's name, but will be known as Artist Rooms; the fifty rooms of art, will act as a lending library for museums and galleries around the country. Curators will be able to borrow rooms of art full of Andy Warhols, or Damien Hirsts, or Joseph Beuys' for instance. Anthony D'Offay was clear that getting credit for this was furthest from his mind:
D'OFFAY ACT: We wanted to say that young people's creativity and education that is at the root of this and not money, wealth or power. And we wanted to say the power is with the artists and their creativity of young people.
IQBAL: Anthony D'Offay hoped his gift might act as an example: since its announcement, two artists, one D'Offay described as internationally known, has offered enough works to create another two rooms.