Displaying items by tag: taxes

The National Gallery in London has received an early painting by Vincent Van Gogh thanks to the Cultural Gifts Scheme, which was introduced by the UK Government earlier this year.

During the mid-1880s Van Gogh painted approximately 40 portraits of the peasants who lived in the Dutch village of Nuenen. The series helped establish Van Gogh as a painter of working people and is considered a breakthrough achievement in his artistic development. ‘Head of a Peasant Woman’ is the first early work by Van Gogh to enter the Gallery’s collection. It is also the museum’s first portrait -- the six other Van Gogh paintings (four are owned by the Gallery and two are long-term loans) are landscapes and still lifes.

The Cultural Gifts Scheme was launched in March 2013 to encourage philanthropy for the arts since it enables UK taxpayers to donate important objects to the nation during their lifetime. In return, donors receive a tax reduction based on a set percentage of the value of the work they are donating. ‘Head of  Peasant Woman’ is the second artwork to be donated to the UK as a result of the Cultural Gifts Scheme.

The painting is currently on view at the National Gallery.

The children of the New York art dealer, Ileana Sonnabend, have donated Robert Rauschenberg’s mixed media assemblage, Canyon (1959), to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. While the acquisition is a welcomed addition to MoMA’s existing Rauschenberg collection, the work wasn’t always so warmly regarded.

The Sonnabend heirs received Canyon after their mother’s death in 2007 and the work was soon at the center of a battle between MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the piece had been displayed intermittently since 2005. MoMA ramped up its efforts and promised to add Ms. Sonnabend’s name to the Founders Wall in the museum’s lobby. Officials also vowed to mount an entire show devoted to Canyon as well as Sonnabend, an important player in the modern art movement. While the Met made offers of their own, the Sonnabend family ultimately decided that MoMA was the right home for the work considering the expansive Rauschenberg collection already in the institution’s possession.

Sadly, this is not the first dramatic episode Canyon has been involved in. When the Sonnabend children inherited the work five years ago, appraisers valued the assemblage at $0. The presence of a stuffed bald eagle, a bird that is protected by federal laws, halted any possible sales of trades involving the work. The I.R.S., on the other hand, shrugged this off and claimed that Canyon was worth $65 million and demanded that Sonnabend’s family pay $29.2 million in taxes and another $11.7 million in penalties.

Eventually, a settlement was worked out and I.R.S. dropped all tax charges. In order for this to happen, the Sonnabends were required to donate Canyon to a museum where it could be put on public display. Canyon will be on view at MoMA beginning today, November 28.