Sainsbury bequeaths art collection
Published on: 29-Oct-2007
An art collection estimated to be worth up to £100 million has been bequeathed by supermarket dynasty benefactor, Simon Sainsbury.The collection of 18 works, by artists including Monet and Lucien Freud, will be split between the National Gallery and the Tate.
Tate director, Nicholas Serota, described the donation as one of the largest in the past 100 years.
He described Sainsbury was "one of the great arts patrons of his generation".
"The bequest was discussed with Simon in the mid-1990s... and through those discussions, sought to bring pictures into the national collections that would really register and make a difference to the national collections," he added.
No equivalent donation has been made since the Lane pictures were bequeathed in the early part of the 20th century.
The National Gallery has a Sainsbury Wing, of which Mr Sainsbury was the main patron.
He was, reportedly, one of the most self-effacing members of the supermarket dynasty, even declining title offers and entries in Who's Who.
It is testament to Sainsbury's family wealth that, although some bequests are made to escape inheritance tax, no conditions were made in this instance - the works being an outright gift.
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