A sculpture by a leading Russian modern artist, worth more than £250,000, has been acquired by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
The sculpture, by Naum Gabo, is made from glass, perspex and stainless steel.
The work has been gifted through the Arts Council’s Cultural Gifts Scheme by Graham Williams on behalf of himself and his wife, the artist’s daughter Nina Williams.
Gabo was born in 1890 in Russia and moved to London in 1936, forming friendships with artists Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth.
By the 1960s, Gabo was recognized as one of the most important and innovative artists of the twentieth-century.
In 1973 Gabo sent a small model of Column to Denmark, for a new, larger work to be made.
Two examples of the sculpture were made: one for the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and another that Gabo gave to his daughter, Nina, who gave it to her husband Graham.
That second example was placed on loan to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2016 and has now been gifted, by Nina’s husband, Graham Williams, through the Cultural Gifts Scheme.
It joins two smaller works by Gabo already in the collection: Construction through a Plane (c.1937) and Spiral Theme (1941).
Edward Harley, Chairman of the Acceptance in Lieu Panel said: “Column by Naum Gabo occupies a significant place in the history of modern sculpture. I am delighted that this important work has joined the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s impressive holdings of 20th century art and is the first cultural gift to enter the collection.”
The acceptance of this artwork will generate a tax reduction of £255,000.
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