Export of Gainsborough painting blocked by UK government

Ministers have placed a temporary ban on the export of an oil painting by the English landscape artist Thomas Gainsborough in the hope that a UK gallery or museum can raise the funds to acquire it.

Going to Market, Early Morning, painted in 1773 and valued at £8m, was sold by a private seller at Sotheby’s in July. An application by its new owner to remove the painting from the UK has been temporarily blocked by the arts minister, Helen Whately.

“Gainsborough is one of the greatest British landscape artists and his work still wows audiences more than 250 years later,” she said. “This piece is a superb example and I hope that a UK buyer can be found so we can find a new home for this work in our national collection.”

The export ban was placed on the painting after advice from the reviewing committee on the export of works of art and objects of cultural interest (RCEWA), which agreed it was “one of [Gainsborough’s] greatest achievements”.

Born in Suffolk in 1727, Gainsborough was a founder member of the Royal Academy, later becoming a favourite painter of King George III. The artwork depicts a group travelling on horseback through the countryside passing by a destitute mother with a baby.

“Thomas Gainsborough is chiefly known as a refined portrait painter. However, he also composed idyllic, rural scenes and Going to Market, Early Morning is one of his greatest achievements in this genre,” said Christopher Baker, who sits on the RCEWA.

“With engaging figures and exquisitely modulated silvery light, it subtly displays his knowledge of 17th-century European art and is a delightful, lyrical, escapist image.

“It has been justly celebrated through a number of high-profile exhibitions and has the distinction of a history that connects it with very important British collections from the time it was painted in the 1770s in Bath. It would be wholly appropriate if it found a permanent home in a UK public institution.”

The decision on the export licence application for the painting will be deferred until 22 March 2020, but this could be extended until 22 September if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase it is made.

The recommended price for the painting is £7,961,000 plus £234,200 VAT, but the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said offers from public bodies for less may be considered.