The estate of famed artist Lucien Freud has received estate tax relief of nearly £3 million after it donated a collection of sketches and letters and to the National Portrait Gallery. The full extent of the donation is not yet known but it does include drawings which formed the basis of a number of later works including of Freud’s second wife Lady Blackwood. The donation was made under an early 20th century law which allows an estate to donate cultural artifacts to the nation for a reduction of death dues.
See Mark Brown, Lucian Freud archive given to nation in lieu of £2.9m in inheritance tax, The Guardian, November 16, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
