‘We should look at all the options ... it’s time to start the debate’ SHOULD COUNCIL SELL ‘£60M’ PAINTING?

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Clr David Sheard said it was time to consider selling a 1940s painting by Francis Bacon, owned by the council, that is too valuable to be exhibited locally and spends the majority of its life in storage.

He was speaking after London art experts said current auction prices mean the painting, Figure Study II, could be worth up to three times its estimated value of £19.5 million..

Auctioning the piece, which was donated to Batley in the 1950s, could be the answer to Kirklees’ cultural nightmare.

“The Labour group has not considered selling this painting,” said Clr Sheard. “It has not been part of our budget considerations.

“I would be more interested in loaning it out to other museums so that they can pay the insurance costs. The security is costly as well.”

But after learning that Bacon’s works are making huge prices at international auction houses Clr Sheard said it was time for a serious discussion about whether the painting could – or should – be sold off.

“Speaking as the leader of the council I think we should know all the facts and look at all the options that are there,” he said. “It’s time to start the debate.”

Following austerity cuts that have forced Kirklees Council to close two museums and plan the closure of a third, the Bacon painting has been revealed to be the multi-million pound “superstar” of the borough’s art collection.

Since because it is expensive to insure, it can only be exhibited within the secure environment of Huddersfield Art Gallery. Currently it is hidden away in the gallery’s vaults. It has also toured extensively since 2000. Most recently it was on display at Tate Liverpool. What’s more, because it was gifted by the Contemporary Art Society to Batley’s Bagshaw Museum in the 1950s, a restrictive covenant allegedly prevents it from being sold. Simple mathematics shows that selling the painting at auction could fund Kirklees’ museums and galleries for decades to come. And with Bacon’s paintings rocketing in value since his death in 1992 – in November 2013 a Bacon triptych depicting artist Lucian Freud fetched £90 million, becoming at that time the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction – other figures on the council believe it is time to put the piece up for sale. Andrew Cooper, Green councillor for Newsome, said: “In the dire circumstances the council finances are in we have to consider selling artworks that the