Alistair Hardaker
Image: David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, credit Waddesdon Image Library, Mike Fear
Buckinghamshire country house acquires paintings through Art Council England’s acceptance in lieu of tax scheme
Two 18th century paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds, valued at a combined £24.5m, have been acquired by the National Trust through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
The scheme, administered by Arts Council England, allows those who have a bill of Inheritance Tax to pay the tax by transferring important or pre-eminent cultural, scientific or historic allocations to the nation.
Both paintings come from the estate of Jacob, 4th Baron Rothschild, and have been on loan to the National Trust managed Waddesdon Manor since 1995. The Trust said the two paintings have become “two of the most beloved in its collection”.
Acceptance of the first painting, “David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy” settled £7m of tax and the “Portrait of Joanna Leigh, Mrs Richard Bennett Lloyd” acceptance settled £17.5m.
The Rothschild Foundation owns Waddesdon Manor and has continued to add to the collections, with both 18th-century and contemporary art.
Baron Rothschild, who died in February 2024, served as Chair of Trustees at the National Gallery between 1985 and 1998, and also led the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the family’s flagship, Waddesdon Manor.
Two previous artworks from Rothschild’s collection joined the National Gallery and Victoria & Albert Museum through the Acceptance in Lieu earlier this year.
Pippa Shirley, director of Waddesdon, said: “ The fact that [the paintings] will remain in the house which has been their home for 30 years for everyone to enjoy is a truly generous gift to the nation.”
