National Galleries Scotland has acquired a large group of twentieth-century Scottish paintings assembled from the collection of a private donor.

The catalyst for this acquisition comes from the UK Government’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme, which allows significant artworks to enter ownership in place of paying inheritance tax. Don’t want to pay tax when it’s time for a huge generational wealth transfer? Well, the government wants any valuable artworks you may have lying around.

The collection is well worth the acquisition, though. Major works that highlight Scotland’s contributions to early twentieth-century modernist art are being returned to public view, in some cases displayed publicly for the first time. More than twenty works are already on display for free at Modern One in Edinburgh. The private collection is a well-curated one, helping to form and fill in our understanding of Scottish art history during that period.

National Galleries of Scotland acquires 'landmark' collection of modern Scottish art

We should give a little credit to those private donors who opt to enrich public galleries rather than profit through overseas auction houses, but as a country, we should feel shudders of embarrassment. For half a century or more, key parts of Scotland's artistic and visual history have sat in private drawing rooms, completely inaccessible to the public, waiting for a tax write-off to........

© Herald Scotland