Small step for man, giant leap for bank

Lending Strategy March 2010

The Financial Services Authority’s £250,000 art collection at its Canary Walk HQ pales into insignificance compared with the Royal Bank of Scotland’s horde, valued at between £10m and £15m.

Given RBS’s problems some of its works may go on sale when the market improves but if the sale of a bronze owned by Commerzbank is anything to go by it could be sooner.

Walking Man I by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti fetched £65m, making the 1960s sculpture the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.

It was previously owned by Dresdner Bank and came into the possession of Commerzbank when it acquired Dresdner in 2009.

Commerzbank plans to put the proceeds from the sale towards supporting its foundations and a number of museums. The bank is restructuring its art collection and around 100 outstanding works will be made available to museums in Frankfurt, Dresden and Berlin on a permanent loan basis.

So will RBS, which acquired many of its pieces after taking over NatWest in 2000, be equally altruistic with its collection which includes works by LS Lowry, Anne Redpath, Jack Vettriano, Patrick Caulfield and Peter Howson?

The answer is yes. The lender plans to loan some of its collection to the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery in London.

But as far as Chatroom knows, a public showing at Canary Wharf is not yet on the cards.