Cost of Grayson Perry artwork 'acquired for nation' by National Galleries of Scotland revealed
The artwork was displayed part of an exhibition of Sir Grayson’s work in Scotland two years ago
The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) has revealed the price of a work by Sir Grayson Perry acquired “for the nation”.
The American Dream, a 2.5m print of a map created by the artist, had been bought for £30,000, NGS said.
The cost was revealed days after The Scotsman’s initial requests for the figure went unanswered.
The print, the only work of Turner Prize winner Sir Grayson’s owned by NGS, is now being displayed at Modern One in Edinburgh.
A spokeswoman for NGS said: “The American Dream was acquired by the Patrons of the National Galleries of Scotland for £30k. The work is now on display at Modern One and is part of Scotland’s national art collection, belonging to the people of Scotland.”
The artist said it had been inspired by his time on The Great American Road Trip, which aired on Channel 4 in 2020.
The print acquired by NGS is described as an “epic satirical statement on our current culture wars”.
Sir Grayson said: “This is a map of the US I made in response to my experiences there when filming my television series, Grayson Perry’s Big American Road Trip.
“It toys with the common delusion that there is a clear and certain route out of our mess of feelings. Stylistically, I was thinking of Cold War propaganda maps showing the ‘communist threat’ in the 1950s.”
The American Dream was part of an exhibition of Sir Grayson’s work, Grayson Perry: Smash Hits, which was on show at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh two years ago.
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