DONORS helped Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum raise the final £60,000 of £860,000 needed to buy an iconic Turner painting of the city in just four weeks.
The museum put out an appeal last month to try to raise the cash needed to buy Joseph Mallord William Turner’s only full size townscape in oils of the High Street.
And in just four weeks, donations from more than 800 people flooded in giving the museum in Beaumont Street enough cash to buy the painting – which has been on loan from a private collection since 1997.
Now all the museum needs to do is sign on the dotted line to own the 1810 view from Queen’s Lane west up the High Street.
The museum had to raise £860,000 to acquire the painting, including £550,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, a grant of £220,000 from the Art Fund and a further £30,000 from the Friends and Patrons of the Ashmolean.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here