Last chance to keep Turner in UK

The Government has temporarily blocked the export of a £5.8m watercolour by J M W Turner after advisers recommended that every possible effort should be made to keep it in Britain.

It is the last chance to save The Blue Rigi: Lake of Lucerne, Sunrise after the loss of its sister work, The Dark Rigi, this summer. The Blue Rigi was hailed as the most important British watercolour at auction for 50 years when it was sold in June by Christie's for three times its estimate. It is not known who purchased the work but an application to export it to America has been barred to see if the money can be raised to keep it in the UK.

The Waverley committee, which advises on export licences, gave The Blue Rigi a starred rating, meaning all efforts should be made to save it. It was of outstanding significance for the study of Turner's final works, they said. The painting was regarded as a star attraction at an exhibition of Turner's watercolours at the Royal Academy in 2000.

The Tate, which owns preparatory sketches of the Rigi works, yesterday registered its interest, but has already suffered disappointment in failing to secure The Dark Rigi. The price for that was £2.7m, but a spokeswoman for the Tate said: "We shall give serious consideration to The Blue Rigi."

The Blue Rigi, The Dark Rigi and The Red Rigi, owned by an Australian gallery, are part of a final group of studies made in Switzerland by Turner. They are views of Rigi Mountain, on Lake Lucerne, at different times of day and were produced for a group of collectors from the new mercantile classes.

The Dark Rigi had been in an English private collection since 1975 until it was sold to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, with an export licence. When the licence was temporarily stopped, the Tate pledged to match the price.

Within hours of the Tate informing the authorities, the dealer found a new private British buyer, according to The Art Newspaper.

In the meantime, The Blue Rigi had come on to the market, having been in the same family since 1942. The day the Tate discovered it had lost The Dark Rigi to a private owner, The Blue Rigi reached its record price.