Portrait of John Maynard Keynes by Duncan Grant, 1917. © The Charleston Trust.

A painting of arguably the most significant British economist of the 20th century, John Maynard Keynes, has been saved for the nation and will go on display in April 2006 at Charleston, the Sussex farmhouse where it was created.

Portrait of John Maynard Keynes by the artist and Bloomsbury set member, Duncan Grant has been bought by the Charleston Trust for £100,000.

The acquisition brings it back to Charleston for the first time since 1956 when it was bought by a European collector having been kept at the farmhouse since it was painted in 1917.

"Portrait of John Maynard Keynes is quite simply a wonderful painting by an artist at the height of his powers that also tells an extremely powerful story," said Alastair Upton, director of the Charleston Trust.

Now open to the public, Charleston is presented almost exactly as it would have been when Grant and Keynes lived there. © The Charleston Trust.

"I am so pleased to be able to confirm that, thanks to the hard work of my staff and the generosity of our supporters, we will be able to hang it at Charleston for everyone to experience."

Painted in the garden at Charleston, the portrait shows Keynes seated with his back to a flint wall and a pen in his hand.

Despite the calmness of the scene it’s thought that it depicts Keynes drafting the letter, which secured the crucial loan from the government of the United States of America that safeguarded Britain's wartime survival.

It is believed that Charleston was used by Keynes as a sanctuary from the pressures of the Treasury and it was there he developed his controversial and influential economic theories. The Economic Consequences of the Peace, Treaties on Probability and A Revision of the Treaty were all written there, yet Charleston was also the place where he was able to indulge his love of art.

Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant completely decorated the house with their own art. © The Charleston Trust.

Owned by Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf’s sister, the farmhouse in Firle, East Sussex was something of a haven for the artists, writers and intellectuals of the Bloomsbury Set.

As well as Keynes, art critic Clive Bell and author David Garnett spent time there, while Virginia and Leonard Woolf, EM Forster, Lytton Strachey and Roger Fry were frequent visitors.

The purchase was made possible thanks to grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (£60,000), the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant fund and the National Art Collections Fund (Art Fund), which contributed £ 30,000.

"Created at a turning point in British history, this is an iconic image by a great artist of one of the 20th century’s greatest economists," added David Barrie, director of the Art Fund. "Charleston was instrumental in the life and work of both Keynes and Grant and we were delighted to assist in its return."