The Blue Rigi to stay in England · 2007-03-02 15:18
One of JMW Turner’s finest watercolours will remain in the UK after the Tate launched a campaign to keep the masterpiece in the country, the BBC reported.
The Blue Rigi was sold at auction last June to an anonymous bidder for ??5.8m – a record for a British watercolour.
The culture minister put a temporary bar on the painting leaving the country to give the Tate time to raise the ??4.95m it needed to buy it back. The total has now been reached after members of the public donated ??550,000.
When the campaign was launched in January, members of the public were asked to contribute ??300,000 by donating ??5 to “buy a brushstroke” online.
More than 11,000 donations were received from all over the world.
As a result of the success of the public appeal, the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) will make up the rest of the cost up to a maximum of ??1.95m.
“There is nothing like The Blue Rigi. It is a truly extraordinary work of ineffable beauty,” said Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota.
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