In the field of historic British art, the emphasis continues to be placed on the acquisition of iconic works by major artists, while at the same time acquiring masterpieces by lesser figures, whose work is either not represented in the Collection or not sufficiently. Among the highlights of the past two years is Joshua Reynolds’s magnificent double portrait of Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney, known as The Archers, which was purchased from a private collector with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Tate Members, the National Art Collections Fund and other donors.
Among the earlier works acquired was full-length portrait of Lord Wharton by Sir Godfrey Kneller, and a double portrait from the mid-1680s of Henrietta and Mary Hyde by Willem Wissing, the first work by this artist to enter the Collection. Another hitherto unrepresented artist is Andrea Soldi, whose exotic portrait of the merchant Henry Lannoy Hunter was acquired with assistance from Tate Patrons and the National Art Collections Fund. Among the nineteenth-century acquisitions was the purchase of Richard Parkes Bonington’s French Coast with Fisherman – a major work of British Romanticism – and A Cornfield by John Constable, which was accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to Tate. Finally, Tate took a rare opportunity to acquire Wandering Musicians 1878 by the Victorian artist Richard Dadd , his last known work in oils.
Joshua
Reynolds
Andrea
Soldi
Richard
Parkes Bonington
Richard
Dadd
