Acquisition file

Intial letter from Esme Cuming Butler offering her Ruysdael by deed of gift, dated 31 July 1953. Response from Philip Hendy asking Butler if an inspection of her picture can be postponed until the relevant curator returns from Amsterdam and whether the picture could potentially be circulated around regional galleries as part of an Arts Council scheme should the work be accepted. Neil MacLaren (deputy keeper and curator of the Dutch School) arranges to visit Butler to view the picture; letter from Hendy to Butler states that MacLaren thinks the Gallery should acquire the picture and explains the difference between a deed of gift and a bequest; arrangements for the picture to be collected from Surrey and taken to the Gallery for inspection by the Trustees; Trustees accept the deed of gift and officially inform Butler in a letter dated 13 Nov 1953; correspondence with Hargrove solicitors regarding arrangements for the writing of Butler's deed of gift; correspondence with Walker Martineau solicitors following the death of Butler on 29 April 1972; correspondence with Walker Martineau solicitors regarding provenance research on the picture; press releases; original deed of gift dated 7 December 1950.