Leaving a painting
We're very grateful to all generous supporters who wish to donate a painting to help enhance the nation’s collection and the experience of the Gallery for all our visitors.
Growing our collection
We have been fortunate to receive a number of bequests in the past that have enabled enormous growth of the collection.
If you have a painting in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to early 20th century and would like to donate this to the National Gallery, then do get in touch with us.
Further information about other ways paintings can be acquired by UK collections can be found on the Arts Council website. This includes the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) Scheme which enables UK tax payers to transfer important works of art and other heritage objects into public ownership while paying Inheritance Tax, and Private Treaty Sale.
Contact us
To find out more about leaving a painting to the National Gallery please contact:
Meredith Loper, Legacy and Appeals Manager
Email: Meredith.Loper@nationalgallery.org.uk
Phone: 020 7747 5982
The Estate of George Pinto
Enhancing the national collection is one of our key objectives and acquiring new artworks enriches the story of European art told through our paintings.
In 2020 we acquired Portrait of a Girl (about 1650) by Isaack Luttichuys from the estate of George Pinto, thanks to the Acceptance-in-Lieu scheme. The picture, a prime example of the classicising trend in 17th-century Dutch painting, is the first work by the artist to enter a British public collection and greatly enhances the Gallery’s collection of Dutch portraits.
We are very grateful to the family of George Pinto for making this acquisition possible.
Simon Sainsbury bequest
In 2006, we received an enormously generous bequest of five paintings from Simon Sainsbury by artists such as Monet, Gauguin, Rousseau and Degas. These paintings made a huge difference to our Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries.
Simon's bequest, along with his contributions towards the Sainsbury Wing, have not only enhanced the collection but provided gallery experiences and have made art more accessible for everyone, everywhere.
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Bequests
See some of the paintings generously donated to the collection.
Snow scenes were a particular favourite among the Impressionists, and Monet painted several canvases that explore the way sunlight plays upon the snow, reflecting tones of red, pink, purple and blue at different times of day. He produced this scene of Lavacourt, a tiny hamlet on a bend in the Sei...
On display elsewhere
One of Gauguin’s favourite paintings was Cezanne’s Still Life with Fruit Dish, (1879–80, Museum of Modern Art, New York), which he acquired for his own collection around 1880.This still life is a homage to that picture, and repeats many of its elements: the fruit, the pottery, the rumpled tablecl...
Not on display
A description on the reverse of this painting identifies it as a landscape near Annecy, a medieval town adjacent to a large lake in the Haute-Savoie region of France. The exact location has not been identified, however. As was usual in his landscapes, Renoir has used strong colour combinations, o...
Not on display
In this exquisite small painting on copper, three women are looking after two infants in a grand neoclassical setting. One woman breastfeeds an infant, while another holds up a second baby for a kiss. A woman to the left is busy arranging bedding in a wooden cradle. The open loggia and warm light...
Not on display
