Leicester City Council must keep its public art, however hard up it is

Public art provides value, even if it’s intangible

Leicester City Council desperately needs more money for housing, but should the city be allowed to sell a painting by a modern master to raise funds? Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Porter wants to flog Francis Bacon’s Lying Figure No 1, currently on display in at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, claiming it is “ugly”, adding “I don’t really rate it. If we had a Henry Moore I wouldn’t propose flogging it ... but Francis Bacon’s style is very particular and it can quite easily go out of fashion”. A local newspaper poll shows that readers are equally split about whether to keep the painting (which could raise up to £20m at auction), but as it was purchased with funds from the Victoria and Albert and the Museums and Galleries Commission that will be almost impossible.

In 2007, Bury Council sold a painting by LS Lowry at auction for £1.4m, using the proceeds to pay for social services. They were widely criticised at the time. I was a trustee for the Science Museum and can attest that disposing of any assets is a tortuous business, many have been donated with strict conditions prohibiting their sale. The solution for Leicester would be for the museum to swap a painting that philistines like Mr Porter find ugly with one from another gallery. Perhaps the locals could conduct a poll to find a suitable “popular” artist. Either way, councils should not be allowed to dispose of cultural assets, no matter how perilous their financial situation.