Collector Gives 50 Works of Indian-Context Art to Tate

A British collector has given 50 artworks to Tate, the group of art museums in Britain. Charles Greig, an academic and expert in Indian art, handed the works over outright, and he did not use any tax incentives, the schemes that can reduce a donor's tax bill for gifts of art. The gift was reported on Monday, 26 October 2026, by ArtNews.

Greig built the collection over four decades. It is made up of oil paintings, watercolours (pictures done in water-based paint on paper) and miniatures (small, finely detailed paintings). All of the works are by artists who lived and worked in India during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The group includes work by Sita Ram and Ghulam Ali Khan. It also includes pieces by European painters Johan Zoffany and Rudolf Swoboda, and by British landscapists, painters of outdoor scenery, William Hodges, Thomas Daniell and William Daniell.

Zoffany's Portrait of Prince Jawan Bakht, also known as Jahandar Shah, dates from 1784. According to ArtNews, it is one of only three portraits of individual Indian sitters by the artist held in UK public collections.

Swoboda's Sepoy in HH Maharaja Srinagar's Indian Regiment, 23 Years Old was painted in 1886 for Queen Victoria. A sepoy was an Indian soldier serving in the British-led army. The painting is the first work by Swoboda to enter a British museum collection. Sita Ram's three watercolours are also part of the gift.

Tate called the donation an "entirely philanthropic act." In other words, the gift was made for its own sake, with no financial reward for the donor. Greig's decision to give the works rather than sell them means they now belong to the museum.

The collection is expected to go on show at Tate Britain, the Tate gallery in London, in 2028. Alex Farquharson is the director of Tate Britain. The 2028 display will be the first time the works are seen together in public, as they will be on view once the exhibition opens.