(Lane). Bodkin, Thomas.
HUGH LANE and His Pictures.
Stationary Office for An Chomhairle Ealaíon (The Arts Council), Dublin, 1956. New Ed. xv + 96pp. 51 plates. Light age toning, e.ps. browned, chipped d/w. with marginal loss.
¶ With ALS ‘This book brings an old sad story up to date but does not finish it. I offer it to you in the confident hope that, when you have read it, you will want to do all you can to help the story to a happy ending John A. Costello [Taoisigh] June 1956.’ Sir Hugh Percy Lane died prematurely at the age of 39 on the ill fated Lusitania. At the time of this death he had a significant collection of French Impressionist Paintings, that he had wished to donate to the Dublin Corporation. Due to financial and other constraints the Dublin Corporation and Lane failed to agree on a suitable gallery to show them, thus despairing of Irish support he bequeathed his collection to the National Gallery in London. However shortly before his death he reversed this in a codicil to his will, which unfortunately was not witnessed. Having possession the National Gallery did not recognise the codicil, altering this legal reality became the life’s work of Professor Thomas Bodkin, with the assistance of John Costello when he became Taoiseach in 1948. These interventions eventually led to a compromise agreement in 1959 and a more generous agreement in 1993 when it was decided that 31 of the 39 paintings would stay in Ireland with the remaining eight subject to a lending agreement.

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Keywords: VOYAGES AND TRAVEL; IRELAND