A French masterpiece that once hung in the home of artist Lucian Freud has been donated to the National Gallery by his family in lieu of inheritance tax. The 19th-century painting by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, titled The Italian Woman or Woman with Yellow Sleeve, was acquired by Freud at auction in 2001.
Freud, who died in July 2011, stipulated in his will that the painting be given to the London gallery as a gesture of gratitude to the country that welcomed his family after they fled Nazi Germany. The donation was made under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, which allows artworks to be transferred to the state to settle inheritance tax liabilities.
The painting has not been publicly displayed for over 60 years and was previously owned by actor Edward G. Robinson. National Gallery director Dr Nicholas Penny praised the addition, noting that while the gallery holds a strong collection of Corot's works, it lacked a late figure painting of this kind. He described the piece as having 'rough-hewn monumentality and abrupt transitions' that anticipate Picasso's classical works.
Freud, born in Berlin in 1922, was the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. His Jewish family fled Germany in 1933, and he became a British citizen in 1939. He rose to prominence as an artist, with his works later fetching millions at auction, including Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, which sold for £17.2 million in 2008.
