The painting, by JSC Schaak, was saved from export to a private collection overseas after a campaign was launched by the National Army Museum in November 2007. It was originally sold at auction in June 2007 to a private collector who outbid the museum, but the Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest temporarily stopped its export.
“The museum is delighted to have reached our target and secured the safe preservation of this painting for the UK,” said museum director, Dr Alan Guy. “Like many of Britain’s great military heroes, Wolfe’s achievements are no longer widely known, but 250 years ago, he was a celebrity.”
“His bold plan to outflank and surprise the French army at Quebec left Canada in the hands of the British Crown,” he added. “Like Nelson at Trafalgar, he died at the moment of the victory which secured his fame.”
Based on a drawing from life by Wolfe’s aide-de-camp Hervey Smyth, the painting is the most authentic portrait of James Wolfe, at the time, and place, of his death.
The National Army Museum already holds a number of Wolfe-related artefacts, including a series of prints made from the painting. The new portrait will be unveiled alongside them on June 5 2008.
A contribution of £80,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), the nation’s ‘fund of last resort’, alongside £15,000 from The Art Fund, the UK's leading independent art charity, helped secure the painting for the museum.
Generous contributions were also forthcoming from The Garfield Weston Foundation and the Society of Friends of the National Army Museum (SOFNAM), which enabled the appeal - whose supporters include TV historian Professor Richard Holmes - to reach its £300,000 target.
