THE Newcastle office of one of the UK's largest private investment management companies is sponsoring an art exhibition.

Gerrard is sponsoring the exhibition, called Light, at the Laing Art Gallery, in Newcastle and is hoping to boost the Newcastle and Gateshead bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Since Light opened in April more than 52,000 visitors have seen the exhibition, which features works by artists such as Rembrandt, Monet, El Greco, Turner, Degas and Renoir.

The paintings are on loan from the National Gallery in London.

Light is the first of four annual exhibitions to be jointly curated by the Laing and the National Gallery.

Gerrard's sponsorship is the firm's first major backing of a North-East art exhibition.

Andrew Miller, the director in charge of Gerrard's Newcastle office, said: "Gerrard has a strong presence in the North-East and we are delighted that our sponsorship has helped to bring this remarkable collection of pictures to the Laing."

Neil Rami, chief executive of the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, which is bidding for city of culture status, said: "The contribution that business can make to the cultural life of the region is an important one and hopefully more companies will be inspired by this move.''