Van Dyck self-portrait saved for UK

Britain’s National Portrait Gallery has successfully raised the £10m required to keep Sir Anthony Van Dyck's final self-portrait in the country, BBC News reported.

The target was reached with the help of a public appeal that saw 10,000 individuals donating more than £1.4m.

Painted shortly before the Flemish artist died in 1641, it has been called "one of the finest and most important self-portraits" in British art.

It had been sold abroad in 2013 before a temporary export ban was imposed.

The buyer was billionaire art collector James Stunt - the son-in-law of Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

He decided to withdraw his claim to the painting in March, after witnessing "the people's passion" to keep the painting in the UK.

It was then offered to the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) for £10m, a reduction on the original price of £12.5m.

That sum has now been raised, including a £500,000 grant from the Art Fund and £700,000 from the NPG's own budget.

"Van Dyck is one of the greatest artists to have worked in Britain," said National Portrait Gallery director Sandy Nairne, when the campaign to save the painting was launched last year.

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