Roo and dingo paintings to stay in Britain

Australia has lost its attempt to secure the first non-indigenous paintings of a kangaroo and dingo. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA has lost out to the British in a tussle to purchase the first non-indigenous paintings of a kangaroo and dingo, made after Captain James Cook's voyage on the Endeavour.

London's National Maritime Museum has secured the 18th century works by George Stubbs following a public fundraising campaign and a STG1.5 million ($A2.55 million) donation from shipping magnate Eyal Ofer.

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) had been trying to acquire Kongouro from New Holland and a companion painting, Portrait of a Large Dog, for more than 40 years.

The paintings were commissioned by Joseph Banks who accompanied Cook on his 1768 voyage to Australia and made sketches of the then-unknown specimens.

It was from these sketches and the skins of animals that Stubbs made his iconic paintings of a kangaroo and a dingo back in the UK.

The works were sold in late 2012 to a buyer outside Britain but in January the UK government put a temporary export ban in place stating the works were "so closely connected with our history and national life".

Sir David Attenborough supported the maritime museum's fundraising efforts and was thrilled to hear of its success.

"Exciting news that these two pictures, so important in the history of zoological discovery, are to remain where they were commissioned and painted," he said in a statement.

In mid-August the NGA stated it remained committed to acquiring the two iconic paintings made in 1772.

"The two Stubbs paintings remain central to the history of both Australian art and our colonisation," director Ron Radford said at the time.

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