Tate to return Bacon archive

THE Tate wants to return works – said to be part of painter Francis Bacon’s archive – to their donor after art historians raised ‘credible doubts’ over the documents’ origins.

The 1,000-piece archive includes sketches, magazine and newspaper cuttings, books and photos of Bacon and his friends. It was said to be worth £20million when given to the gallery in 2004 by Barry Joule, a friend of the artist.

But the Tate has offered to return the works to the original owner after it announced the oeuvre was of ‘unknown authorship’. In a statement, the gallery concluded that the material had been ‘exhausted’ of its potential to improve understanding of Bacon’s art.

Canadian-born Mr Joule has defended the material’s authenticity. He claims to have considered legal action over what he called the Tate’s failure do justice to the collection.

Yesterday a Tate source said: ‘We have honoured the terms of the original acquisition agreement.’