HC Deb 12 November 1959 vol 613 cc599-601
The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Macmillan)

With permission, I will now answer Questions Nos. 46 and 47 together.

I have to inform the House that an agreement has been concluded between the Commissioners of Public Works of the Irish Republic and the Trustees of the National Gallery, London, in regard to the Lane pictures.

A copy of the agreement is being placed in the Library. It provides that the 39 Lane pictures will be divided into two groups, which will be lent, in turn, for public exhibition in Dublin for successive periods of five years, over a total period of twenty years.

Her Majesty's Government welcome these arrangements and consider that for the duration of the agreement they offer a solution of a question which has been the subject of controversy for a long time. They will not themselves during the currency of the agreement initiate or give support to any proposal for an alternative arrangement concerning the Lane pictures.

I trust that the conclusion of this agreement will be welcomed by the House.

Mr. Teeling

Does my right hon. Friend realise how delighted those who have been interested in this subject for many years feel at his announcement and at this compromise? Can my right hon. Friend tell us whether Her Majesty's Government are directly involved in this agreement?

The Prime Minister

Her Majesty's Government are not a party to the agreement. It has been negotiated on the side of the United Kingdom by the Trustees of the National Gallery, but we welcome these arrangements and we think that they form a very good solution of a long standing controversy.

Mr. Hector Hughes

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this just gesture has already elicited from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland expressions of warm appreciation? Does he realise that he will add greatly to the strength, prosperity and happiness of these two islands if he can achieve in economics, politics and defence the same kind of unanimity as he has won in the sphere of art? Will he now address himself to those matters?

The Prime Minister

That is far from the pictures.

Mr. Gaitskell

In welcoming the agreement, may I ask the Prime Minister whether Her Majesty's Government would consider sympathetically any request that might be made from time to time by the Trustees of the National Gallery to purchase other pictures to replace those which will not now be available in the National Gallery, because, of course, they will be shown in Dublin? I mean, of course, similar pictures—French impressionists. In view of the fact that Hugh Lane was one of the great initiators of public collections of modern paintings, would it not be a gracious tribute and gesture to his memory if the Government acted accordingly?

The Prime Minister

I am sure that my right hon. Friend will bear that question in mind when considering grants for these purposes. I think, however, that the great advantage of this arrangement is that the pictures are not lost permanently either to one country or the other, or to those who wish to see them, and by moving backwards and forwards over a period of five years they will be, in a sense, available to both countries. That is a great advantage over other solutions which have sometimes been suggested.

Mr. Gaitskell

I fully agree with that, and it is because I hope that the agreement will last not only for twenty years, but for much longer, that I venture to suggest the possibility of grants for purchasing other pictures to replace those which, at any given time during periods of five years at least, will not be available in the National Gallery.

The Prime Minister

I have said that my right hon. Friend will consider the matter. These are dangerous things to dispute about. It is possible that in twenty years' time we may wish that we had bought at cheaper prices other pictures which will then be very fashionable.