Turner painting to remain in Oxford after fundraising campaign
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Version 0 of 1. A JMW Turner street scene described as the greatest painting of Oxford will remain in the city after the Ashmolean Museum raised the money to buy it in just four weeks. The High Street, Oxford, by Turner, was left to the British nation in lieu of inheritance tax, but its value of £3.5m was more than the tax due. That led to a fundraising campaign by the Ashmolean, where the painting has been on loan from a private collection since 1997. The Ashmolean needed to raise £860,000. A grant of £550,000 had already been offered by the Heritage Lottery Fund; £220,000 from the Art Fund; and £30,000 from Friends and Patrons of the Ashmolean. The remaining £60,000 was raised in the four weeks by Oxford residents and museum visitors. The response to the campaign was extraordinary, said Alexander Sturgis, director of the Ashmolean. “The museum has been overwhelmed by public support. With well over 800 people contributing to the appeal, it is clear that the local community, as well as visitors to the museum from across the world, feel that this picture, the greatest painting of the city ever made, must remain on show in a public museum in Oxford.” Turner was commissioned to paint the picture in 1809 by an Oxford printseller, James Wyatt. The result remains one of the most fully documented of all the artist’s works because Wyatt kept all the correspondence. Sturgis said the intention was to lend the painting to nearby regional museums as well as giving it “pride of place” in the Ashmolean’s gallery of 19th-century art, which will be refurbished and reopened in early 2016. Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, congratulated the museum: “It would have been such a tragedy to lose this beautiful and important work by Turner, and clearly the public felt the same. “We’re proud to stand alongside everyone who contributed generously to make this happen.” |