Sniffing at Sainsbury's Gifts

by Zoe Strimpel
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 at 4:04 PM

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Simon Sainsbury, of the Sainsbury's supermarket dynasty, left 13 paintings to Tate Britain and five to the National Gallery at a total value of £100 million ($200 million). Tate gets the bulk of the works, though the National Gallery is the institution most associated with his generosity. The Gallery has a whole Sainsbury wing, of which the late donor contributed a third of the cost — a £12 million tab ($24 million at the current exchange rate). Sainsbury, who died in 2006, also oversaw a refurbishment of the Gallery, including fresh fabrics and rehangings.

This bequest has raised eyebrows for its, well, awkwardness. Art watchers such as the influential critic Brian Sewell have used it as an occasion to question the appropriateness of Sainsbury's generosity; he maintains that the quality of the works in the bequest is far inferior to that of works such institutions should be scrabbling to hang. Snubbing a gift from a donor such as this would be very tricky indeed — but Mr. Sewell says he'd do it. He'd sell them and buy better pictures, more "essential" to "the heritage."

All 18 of the works are on display at Tate Britain until October 5. The National Gallery's bequest includes Monet's "Snow Scene" at Argenteuil (1875) and "Water Lilies, Setting Sun" (c. 1907) as well as a Rousseau portrait of Joseph Brummer (1909). Tate's got Francis Bacon's "Study for a Portrait" (1952), Lucian Freud's "The Painter's Mother" (1972) and — far older — Thomas Gainsborough's "Mr and Mrs Carter" (c. 1747), among others. Some may sniff, but it doesn't sound half bad. And in the cash-strapped world of national heritage, snubbing a donor like Sainsbury just wouldn't have done, whatever Mr. Sewell says.

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