Burrell relative has concerns over international tour plan
A RELATIVE of Sir William Burrell has voiced concerns over plans to take part of his priceless collection on an international tour.
He gifted his priceless collection of art to the City of Glasgow in 1944 on condition that it was never transported abroad.
The city council hopes for items from the Burrell Collection in Pollok Park, Glasgow, to go on temporary loan to the British Museum.
It is sponsoring a Private Bill at Holyrood in an attempt to alter the terms of Burrell’s deed of gift and allow the move.
Mona Dickinson, a granddaughter of Mary Burrell, Sir William’s sister, who lives in Lincolnshire, said neither she nor the wider family were consulted by the council or the trustees of the Burrell Collection about the plans.
She s ai d: “I suspect they have tried to smuggle this through. This debate was thoroughly rehearsed in 1997.
“Experts warned then, as now, that every time you wrap and unwrap a tapestry, some sort of damage can occur. It is inevitable.
“We should leave matters as they are.”
Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, has said touring the Burrell would be “of real public benefit”, while critics warn of the risk involved.
An art expert wrote in Museums Journal that the terms of a gift and the original donor’s wishes should be upheld if there is no surviving family member with whom to renegotiate the terms of the gift. Michael Daley, director of ArtWatch UK, said that art objects should not be subject to “curatorial churning”.
The Scottish Parliament has heard evidence from an American lawyer who claimed several paintings in a £15 billion art collection held in Philidelphia were damaged during transit.
Loosened paint had to be reset on a Picasso painting when it arrived in Tokyo, and creases had appeared on a Matisse when it arrived in Washington.
A spokesman for Glasgow Life said: “Neither the city nor the trustees would consider any loan that placed an object at risk.”
Pollok Park is due to have a £40 million restoration between 2016 and 2020.
A similar move to lift restrictions in 1997 failed.