Turner Oxford painting bought by Ashmolean Museum

Turner created the painting of one of Oxford's most picturesque streets in 1810

A museum has completed the fundraising to acquire a painting of Oxford by JMW Turner.

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford was £60,000 short of the £860,000 needed to acquire Turner's "The High Street".

It took four weeks to raise the funds through donations. The painting was offered to the museum in lieu of £3.5m of inheritance tax.

If the museum had been unable to acquire the painting, it would have been sold on the open market.

Director Dr Alexander Sturgis said the museum had been "overwhelmed by public support" and described it as the "the greatest painting of the city ever made".

The work dated 1810 has been on loan to the Museum from a private collection since 1997.

It was offered to the museum for £860,000 as it was worth more than the tax liable on the estate.

Grants of £550,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £220,000 from the Art Fund; and a further £30,000 from the Friends and Patrons of the Ashmolean also helped secure the painting.