Anthony d'Offay's Big Art Collection Gift

The art dealer Anthony d'Offay has sold his £125 million collection of modern paintings, sculptures and drawings to the nation - for the £26.5 million he paid for them.
Sheffield-born Anthony d'Offay, 67, will be paid only his cost price for the 725 pieces.

By giving these pictures to the nation, he will educate future generations by allowing them to enter into the imaginations of these artists, to understand how their minds work, and how over time they changed styles and developed ideas.

It is the most important thing that has happened in the art world in this country in my lifetime. said Richard Dorment, Telegraph Art Critic.

Sir Nicholas Serota, the director of the Tate galleries, said: "This is one of the largest gifts ever made to museums in this country." read more