´óÏó´«Ã½

....The Sutherland statue is seen by many Scots, particularly in the North, as a symbol of power, greed, oppression and heartless evictions. It represents a family, a ruling class, and a period in history which split communities and sent families to the far corners of the earth in search of livelihood denied them on their own soil.

Many see it as a monument to the greed and vanity of the Sutherland family, the toadyism of their hirelings, and the efficient extortion racket which squeesed contributions from unwilling tenants.....

given where the wealth came from to buy the pictures in the first place one might think it a little cheeky that the scots should pay for it twice?

I agree with the previous post, and dream of the day when people in this country start to have a long hard look at the wealth of the descendents of 'William the Bastard and his armed banditti', as Tom Paine put it so neatly! And I hope this isn't going to be a rerun of the 'Madonna of the Pinks' business - not only was public money spent buying this second rate picture from its filthy rich owner, but we also lost the millions in tax we'd have got had the picture been sold to the Getty Museum. This last issue was overlooked in the reporting of the 'Madonna' sale.
While I'm at it, I don't think we should subsidise sport so much, either...the olympic money is just obscene.

How to pay for the Titians?

Idea Number 1: Windfall tax on cleared estates in Sutherland.

Idea Number 2: Damien Hurst to knock
up 100 miniatures of Dolly the cloned
sheep - to be sold to highest bidder.

Idea Number 3: Revive the proposal
made by Sir Donald Mackay back in
the 1970's to cream off the windfall
profits from North Sea oil to buy up
Old Masters for Scotland's National
Gallery. (NB requires HM Treasury
approval or Scottish independence).
{Medvedev and The Hermitage to be
contacted to mediate the transaction).

Idea Number 4: Dangle a passport
outside Harrods - for any rich taker
prepared to buy Diana for the nation

Idea Number 5: Find a friendly Russian oligarch topposed to Medvede and The
Hermitage o buy 'Diana and Callisto' who
was turned into a bear by Jupiter's
jealous wife Juno; the other one
was metamorphosed into a stag
(so rattle cans round Estonia and
Dublin focussing on stag weekend
parties interested in naked women)

Idea Number 6: Replace Diana
and Actaeon with the replica that
National Gallery of Scotland used
a couple of years back to illustrate
how to fake a Titian and see if any
bodyapart from Tracey Emin or the
Duke of Sutherland notices ......

Idea Number 7: Buy the Rembrandt
self-portrait and auction off the rest;
lease the Raeburns owned by The
University of Edinburgh to fill up the
awkwards gaps left in the collection
and kill two birds with one stone by
getting world class Scottish painting
on world class walls in Scotland while
easing the financial circumstances of
the local uni. Keep fingers crossed that
any prospective buyer can't pay for the
insurance with the whole of Scotland
prepared to burn his roof down if he
refuses to show paintings publicly

Idea Number 8: Redesignate the Sutherland seat of 'Dunrobin' as
a Highland croft and block sale of
the contents by absentee owners
under the new crofting legislation

Idea Number 9: Sell Kirsty's Volvo*.
Good trade for a 'Rolls Royce being
offered for the price of a Fiat Panda'.

* still parked on the top floor of The
National Museum of Scotland next to
a parking meter showing "Excess"!!

Two Titians for 100 mill – given they’re said to be worth 300 mill at auction this could be said to be a knockdown price, then again I’m sure we can all think of things that could be done with that money; it would be from our taxes after all.

I think there comes a point with art when we have to say no. We still have photographs to refer to; art historians have already studied the originals so if they disappear into a private gallery (or Bill Gates lounge) then so be it. As Titan was Venetian we can hardly claim this is our heritage.
With luck the paintings will go to a rich museum somewhere in the world and so remain accessible to the public. Titian painted in return for commissions, he’d understand.

Idea Number X: frofmarch the Duke of Sutherland halfway up The Mound to
the new museum of money in The
Bank of Scotland; show him waht
a million quid looks like in readies;
and then ask him why on earth he
wants to swap these priceless art
works for 100 of these piles of filthy
capitalist ucre whne he is very rich?

TITIAN COMPETITION (previously out in cold on another thread)

Is Britain still turning out the finest forgers in the world? If so, there should be a competition with a tempting but sensible prize-money, for replacement paintings.
Perhaps a TV program hosted by Rolfie: 'Strictly Come Painting'? A room full of British forgers - priceless!
The originals should be sold, top dollar, and the money used to heat and feed Britain's poor.
Then, instead of having to look at the work of 'damned foreigners' we can visit the gallery and view honest British forgeries! Twice the value, all the pleasure and - using Gordon Brown maths - half the price.

Notice too how the other part of the deal in respect of the other paintings in the Duke of
Sutherland's collection on loan to the NGS is said to 'safeguard them for a generation'. I thought that meant 'at least thirty years' -
but it seems that inflation has now cut 'a
generation' to only twenty one years???!

#6 barriesingleton
LOL. Best idea so far - it could be the start of a nationwide industry.

#3, #5 & #7 neilrobertson
Great ideas and LOL but silver medal, I'm afraid

The current 'Impressionism and Scotland' exhibition at The National Gallleries of Scotland is excellent incidentally ........

Now you're talking. The definite smell of sedition in the air, and people challenging the conventions whereby we're all kept in our place, and the power-elites scoff all the best goodies.
We'll get exactly what we fight for. I remember when War Criminal Tony was lecturing a couple of hundred Trade Unions at his last Party conference, and thinking how the political system would have been shaken to its core if they'd all stepped onto the platform and given him a serious kicking. They'd certainly have stopped calling the people the Labour party was called into existence to represent, dinosaurs; it wouldn't have taken Brown a week to get his fat a**e to the North of England to view the floods; and we'd have had our referendum on Lisbon.
These disgusting politicians need to be reminded at every turn, who they're accountable to. Just off to say my prayers for another by-election win for the Sensible Nation Party.

Re #6. Great idea Barrie. Decent British forgeries. And for all, not just a few. This is my vision. These are our vol-yous

£100 Million Is a small amount to pay to keep these wonderful Art Treasures in this country, we must hold on to them for the future...

£ 100 million is a smalll price to pay to keep these wonderful works of art in Britain..

Well done Jeffrey Archer when asked a kids hospital or a couple of paintings ..yes childrens hospital he said but maybe ´óÏó´«Ã½ can find the money or donate a few weeks of Paxo who does seem to be absent for all summer

So you need a convincing art expert to talk about buying those Titians - who do you call? Jeffrey Archer. No! Not again! It's getting embarrassing Newsnight team. It's like seeing Jim Davidson inviting Jess Conrad onto the Generation Game. Has he just got a bit of time on his hands and needs a favour or what? The Olympics and now Titians. Is there any limit to your perception of his talents?

OVER ARCHING

Those whom Newsnight wish to destroy, they first Archerise. Please be informed the clipped military tones of that upstart popinjay lord (that just came to me!) cause me to cut the sound while he speaks, to retain my sanity. Post #5 said it all and yet I am so hacked off I am saying it all again. See what you've done to me?

I am disappointed to witness the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s apparent collusion in Geoffrey Archer's attempts to present himself as an honest and upright citizen whose opinions the public should respect.
To invite him to air his views on two Newsnight programmes within days, wearing 'different hats' when there are many far more worthy individuals able to speak on either topic (Olympian medals and great works of art) beggars belief.
As an avid fan of the programme, it pains me to "say shame on you Newsnight".

Why do many people on this website resort to sniping and cheap shots at individuals for whatever reasons they have, rather than keeping to the issues.

We can all find a better reason on what to spend £millions than a painting but at the end of the day do we flog our heritage at the expense of a cheap playing to the gallery reason why other matters are more important on which to spend our money?

Just to be extreme I think we should spend the £millions on producing a bigger and better bomb.-- no I am not being serious! I could argue that none of my taxes should be spent on schools as my children are now working. You either like art or you don't, so to those who don't it is a waste of money. We will never agree.

Those that support art of any form, which I do, are on a no-win situation. Totally indefensible when weighed against other more pressing issues too many to list.

CELE-BRIT-ISM

athena17 (#17) Sadly, the progeny/initiates of our 'Focus Group eras' just don't understand (share the same beliefs).

Titians-

If these painting are as good as the experts say they are, lets buy them and add them to our nations treasures.

If the Gov is so broke they can't find £100 million, cut our EU contribution by £100 million to pay for it for a year.

Surly a Gov thats winning the arguments in Europe could achieve such a little thing ?

#18 Billbradbury

I quite like looking at art and have been to many galleries all over Europe from Leningrad to Lisbon, but like all but a very few would never be able to tell a high-quality copy from the original.

Why not just copy the things along the lines suggested by barriesingleton or neilrobertson and let them be sold (and taxed!) to whoever wants them? The copies could be displayed in museums all over the British Isles and so be available to everyone rather than the few who see them now.

You can do that anyway - good idea; but the originals have a very special 'aura' as
Walter Benjamin explained (back in 1936)
'The Work of Art In The Age of Mechanical
Reproduction'). And Scotland's Galleries
are for the most part free .... apart from
special shows like Tracey bloody Emin!!!

just don't understand (share the same "...beliefs)."

Yes, I realize that, JadedJean and what a sad reflection on our society. It’s no wonder that some young people living without hope of escaping their drab and deprived existence choose a life of crime and disruption when law breakers such as GA are paraded before them in the media as role models.

Re #18.
"Why do many people on this site resort to....?" Because it makes us feel better Bill.

Re #18 and 24

And it's all we have Bill.

PS My shots are not 'cheap' I have honed them with a lifetime of rage. They are beautifully crafted shots - sort of Titianesque.