Artworks by Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, Lucian Freud, and John Constable are coming together next year at the National Gallery in London, as part of an exhibition titled “Collected.”
The works have been acquired through two programs: the Acceptance in Lieu and Cultural Gifts schemes, organized by the Arts Council England on behalf of the UK government. The first is an initiative that allows an inheritance tax bill to be replaced by transferring important or pre-eminent cultural, scientific, or historic allocations to the nation, while the Cultural Gifts scheme lets UK taxpayers swap objects of importance in return for a reduction in the donor’s corporation, income, or capital gains tax liability.
“Collected” will open on May 22 and run through to September 5, and will then travel to the National Galleries of Scotland, the Ulster Museum in Northern Ireland, and the Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. The show will feature 40 works, from Picasso’s The Weeping Woman (1937) and Freud’s Portrait of Hermione Scott (1960) to Guercino’s The Samian Sibyl with a Putto (1651). Two ceramics by Picasso will also be displayed: Bird on a Nest (1949) and Flower Women/Standing Nudes (1948), alongside Chinese porcelain jardiniere.
Sir Gabriele Maria Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, said in a statement that it’s “impossible to overestimate the importance of the Acceptance in Lieu and Cultural Gift Scheme in bringing astounding works of art into public ownership in museums across the UK. The National Gallery is delighted to celebrate this cultural cornucopia with our partners across the four nations.”
Other impressive artworks in the collection include An Old Man in an Armchair (1650) that is attributed to Rembrandt; Paul Cézanne’s Avenue at Chantilly (1888); Peter Doig’s At the Edge of Town (1986-88); and Magritte’s La condition humaine (1935), from the Norfolk Museums Service. Magritte has been the talk of London with Gagosian Gallery’s show “This Is Still Not a Pipe: The Afterlife of Magritte” on view until December 12.