Museum acquisitions
Museums often acquire works through donations but, in spite of funding constraints, they also make purchases to expand their collections, either bidding at auctions, negotiating private treaty sales or, in the UK, via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
Versailles takes its pick and buys picture of the château orangerie
28 September 2016The Château of Versailles exercised its right of pre-emption to acquire an 18th century painting of its orangerie that was offered at auction.
Tate acquire early Joan Carlile portrait
26 September 2016The Tate has acquired its earliest picture by a female artist.
Islington Museum buys collage by Joe Orton's lover at auction
23 September 2016Islington Museum has paid £8000 for a screen collage by Joe Orton's lover and killer Kenneth Halliwell at a JP Humbert auction this week.
Director departs V&A after period of acquisition and growth
06 September 2016The director of the Victoria & Albert Museum is to step down this autumn after five years in the role.
Just Like That! V&A acquires Tommy Cooper collection
29 August 2016With his trademark fez and deceptively shambolic stage persona, Tommy Cooper was one of Britain’s best known TV personalities. Now the Victoria & Albert Museum is acknowledging his fame and popularity with the announcement that they have acquired the comedian’s memorabilia collection.
Jacobean miniature acquired by National Trust for Powis Castle
17 August 2016The National Trust has acquired an important Jacobean portrait miniature for £2.1m from a private seller in a sale brokered by Omnia Art.
Tate takes ownership of Joshua Reynolds portrait from Castle Howard
16 August 2016The Tate has acquired a major portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) from Castle Howard in North Yorkshire after it was accepted in lieu of inheritance tax.
Italian cabinets from Castle Howard head to Fitzwilliam Museum
12 August 2016An impressive and richly decorated pair of early 17th century gilt bronze and pietre dura inlaid Italian cabinets, which stood in Castle Howard, Yorkshire for two and a half centuries, have been saved for the Nation by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Early Hans Coper bowl bought for V&A after export ban
10 August 2016The V&A have acquired an early form by the artist-potter Hans Coper (1920-81). Made in 1955 in the studio Coper shared with Lucie Rie in Paddington, London, the large bowl was the subject of a temporary export ban in 2015 in the hope a UK buyer could be found.
Paper peepshows from Gestetner collection given to the V&A
28 July 2016Without computers, virtual reality was a very different concept 200 years ago. Clever use of optics and illusion was the key, as a paper peepshow collection given to London’s Victoria and Albert Museums demonstrates beautifully.
Bowes Museum acquires Old Master with help from Art Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund
26 July 2016The Bowes Museum has secured funding at a sum of nearly £2.3m to keep an exit-barred painting attributed to the workshop of Dieric Bouts the Elder in the UK.
Tate buys expressionist oil painting from dealer Andrew Sim
19 July 2016Sim Fine Art have sold their first ever painting to the Tate who have added it to their permanent collection.
Fair play: Key numbers and sales at the Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia 2016
04 July 2016More than 25,160 visitors attended the 44th annual Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia which concluded its seven day run yesterday.
Louvre buys duc de Berry’s tomb mourners at Paris auction
24 June 2016Two finely carved marble figures of mourners from the tomb of Jean de France, the duc de Berry (1340-1416) brother of King Charles V of France were secured by the Louvre for €4.4m (£3.67m) at Christie’s Paris last week.
Leading collector of romantic landscapes donates two works to the National Gallery in London
18 May 2016Two landscapes by 19th century European artists have been donated to the National Gallery by Asbjørn Lunde, an American of Norwegian extraction who is one of the world’s top collectors in the field.
Tolkien's Middle-earth map bought by the Bodleian
09 May 2016Oxford’s Bodleian Library has acquired a map of Middle-earth annotated by JRR Tolkien (1892-1973).
Musée Delacroix buys portrait of George Sand at Fontainebleau auction
21 April 2016A portrait by Eugène Delacroix redolent with associations to Nineteenth century French Romanticism has been secured by the Paris museum dedicated to his work.
Pallant House Gallery acquire Degas drawing in deal brokered by Sotheby’s
18 April 2016A large drawing by Edgar Degas (1834-1917) which has never been exhibited before has gone on display at Pallant House Gallery after being acquired by the Chichester gallery via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
Fireplace returned to Cliffe Castle
29 February 2016A Russian malachite and ormolu chimney went on show last week at the museum at Cliffe Castle in Keighley more than half a century after it left the property.
Monkey business – Swiss museum buys automaton at Bristol auction
19 January 2016A museum in Switzerland has acquired this extraordinary monkey band automaton at an online-only auction conducted by East Bristol Auctions, in Hanham, Bristol.
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