Lane Bequest

Lane was born in Ireland, grew up in England and elsewhere in Europe, and worked for most of his career as an art dealer in London.

The plans were rejected by Dublin city council, and the project which was to become the Hugh Lane Gallery was not fully realised at the time of his death.

Lane's will of October 1913 also bequeathed his collection to the National Gallery, but Lane had been appointed director of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) in early 1914, and after his death a codicil dated February 1915 was discovered in his office which changed the destination of the bequest to the NGI in Dublin.

The codicil was signed and dated but not formally witnessed and so it was legally ineffective, and the National Gallery took ownership of the paintings that were already in its hands, on loan.

The collection includes paintings by Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir; two by Édouard Manet; three by or after Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot; four by or after Gustave Courbet; and four by Antonio Mancini.