 The painting is valued at �2.1m |
The Government has placed a temporary ban on the export of a painting by the 19th Century artist Richard Parkes Bonington to try and keep it in the UK. Arts Minister Estelle Morris said she was placing the ban on French Coast with Fishermen (1820) so British buyers had time to find the �2.1m price.
It was of "outstanding significance for the study of British 19th Century landscape painting," she said.
The painting's export ban will last until July.
It may then be extended again until October if the government can not find a local buyer.
"In its ambition and scale, the painting evokes JMW Turner, while its subject matter is typical of Anglo-French landscape at this time," a government statement said.
Born in Nottingham, in 1802, Bonington moved to France, aged 12, where he later became a friend of the French artist Eugene Delacroix.
He died at the age of 26 but is regarded in art circles as a pioneer of the impressionist style.
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