§ Sir H. Kerrasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about special Government assistance towards a recent acquisition by the National Gallery.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydYes. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury announced in the House on 2nd February, 1960, that my predecessor agreed that special financial assistance would be justified to enable the National Gallery to acquire additions to their collections of pictures of the French 19th century school, particularly in view of the circumstances arising from the agreement regarding the Lane collection.
The National Gallery have recently been able to purchase a pair of pictures by Renoir, "La Danseuse au Tambourin" and "La Danseuse aux Castagnettes". These pictures, which were painted in 1909 by Renoir for his friend Maurice Gangnat, are very fine examples of the artist's later period, which at present is poorly represented in public collections in this country.
In view of the exceptional importance of this acquisition, I have decided, subject to the approval of Parliament, to make a special Exchequer grant of £163,500 towards the cost. A Supplementary Estimate will be laid before the House as soon as possible and meanwhile the money is being advanced from the Civil Contingencies Fund. The balance of the purchase price will be found by the National Gallery from their own funds.