The UK has a program where inheritance tax can be paid in art donated to museums. This year it took in 36 works that covered £10.8m worth of art. The program is run by Andrew Motion who said to the London Evening Standard:
“It is particularly exciting to see the rise in the number of modern painters whose works are coming through the scheme into public ownership – painters of international importance who have made such a significant contribution to the artistic and cultural standing of the UK.”
Two paintings by Hockney with a value of £234,500 have been given to Tate. One, Study for Doll Boy, was produced when Cliff Richard’s song, Living Doll, was in the charts, while the other, The Berliner and the Bavarian, was painted after he left the Royal College and went to Germany. Both were originally owned by Frith Banbury,a theatre producer, and his partner, Christopher Taylor, who were early supporters of the artist.
The National Portrait Gallery has been given initial custody of portrait by Sir Howard Hodgkin of Peter Cochrane, a respected art dealer, provisionally valued at £42,000. But a £175,000 portrait by Frank Auerbach of Julia Wolstenholme, is in the care of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art pending a decision on its permanent allocation. […] Hampton Court Palace was awarded a £1.05 million Portrait of Princess Mary, the eldest daughter of Charles I, by Sir Anthony van Dyck because the work had originally hung there until 1647.
£20m of Art Received in Death Deals (This is London)
