The following case studies provide examples of successful applications to the Art Fund through:
Vale of York Viking Hoard
Jointly Acquired by the British Museum and Yorkshire Museums Trust
ArtFunded 2009
The Vale of York Hoard was acquired through a unique partnership between the York Museums Trust and the British Museum and demonstrates how acquisitions in partnerships can work to great effect.
Found by two metal detectors in the Harrogate area in 2007, the Hoard was declared Treasure and valued at £1,082,000 by the Treasure Valuation Committee. As the largest and most important Viking hoard found in Britain since 1840, the rarity and remarkable beauty of this archaeological find was reflected in the Art Fund’s grant of £250,000, as well as demonstrating our commitment to support acquisitions of important antiquities, including items declared as Treasure.
The pooling of resources through a partnership acquisition also enabled an effective fundraising campaign: a huge sum of £200,000 was raised through public appeal and additional funds were raised to cover conservation costs.
In the future, the partnership between the British Museum and the York Museums Trust means that this archaeological find, one of global importance as well as great local significance for North Yorkshire, can benefit from the conservation and research resources available at the British Museum, while also enabling the Hoard to be displayed equally between the two venues, making it accessible to the widest possible public.
This acquisition also generated support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the fund of last resort for the nation's heritage.
This acquisition was also the subject of an event organised by the Art Fund. Our events programmes, run from Head Office and by our volunteers across the country, are great ways of publicising new acquisitions, displays or exhibitions
Read more about this acquisition on our ArtSaved website
Sueharu Fukami, Haruka, 2004
The McManus Art Gallery and Museum
ArtFunded 2008
Through the Art Fund’s Small Grants scheme museums and galleries looking to obtain grants of under £5,000 can be helped both quickly and successfully.
By supporting the acquisition of Haruka the Art Fund assisted this growing Dundee collection to purchase their first piece by the renowned ceramic artist Fukami, which demonstrates the ambition and dynamism of contemporary ceramic art..
The gallery was encouraged to pursue this acquisition following their involvement with Art Fund Collect, for which they were shortlisted in 2008 for their focus on Japanese makers.
The Art Fund offered £3,240 towards the total of £7,200 for Haruka by Fukami and the McManus Art Gallery and Museum was also assisted with additional funding by the National Fund for Acquisitions.
The Art Gallery and Museum has an ambitious and outward-looking collecting policy for contemporary Glass and Ceramics, a policy developed through the Scottish Art Council’s ‘National collecting Scheme for Scotland’ 2003 - 2006. The acquisition of this work, which helps to show the strong influence of Japanese traditional ceramic art both on contemporary Japanese and British pieces, demonstrates how the Art Fund’s Small Grants scheme works to assist smaller and regional museums in the process of developing existing collections in a considered and strategic way.
Read more about this acquisition on our ArtSaved website
Charles Napier Hemy, Along Shore Fishermen, 1890
Falmouth Art Gallery
ArtFunded 2008
The contribution to the purchase of Charles Napier Hemy’s Along Shore Fishermen by the Art Fund demonstrates the charity’s recognition of the importance of art of both national significance and local interest.
Falmouth Art Gallery had long been keen to acquire a work of high quality by Hemy, Falmouth’s first Royal Academician, and had twice attempted to purchase a Hemy at auction. Both of these previous attempts were unsuccessful with the works well exceeding the hammer price and selling for over £100,000.
It proved to be third time lucky for Falmouth as they were able to take advantage of the dip in the art market following the economic crisis, managing to secure the painting for below the price their advisors had anticipated.
By recognising the ambitions of Falmouth Art Gallery to acquire a high quality work by Hemy, and the potential opportunities for museums and galleries when acquiring at auction, the Art Fund’s support for this acquisition and ability to work quickly to respond to the needs of our applicants, ensured that a work by a leading British maritime painter was returned to Cornwall.
The painting was acquired for £24,000 with a contribution of £15,450 from The Art Fund and additional support from the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and local funding. Like the Art Fund, the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund is able to respond quickly to applications for funding to enable museums and galleries to acquire works at auction.
Read more about this acquisition on our ArtSaved website
Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Multiple Sketch for the Banqueting House: The Apotheosis of James I and other studies, 1629-30
Tate
ArtFunded 2008
The award to Tate of a grant towards the acquisition of Rubens’s sketch for the ceiling of the Banqueting House demonstrates the Art Fund’s ability to work swiftly and take the lead in saving works of art for the nation.
The acquisition of this magnificent oil sketch is the first Rubens work to enter Tate’s Collection, and a unique treasure in the history of British art.
The work had been in a private collection in England for over two hundred years, and when Tate were presented with the unique opportunity to acquire this beautiful painting for the nation the Art Fund stepped up to support them in their fundraising efforts to help them unlock various sources of funding.
The Art Fund was the first external funding body to support their acquisition bid and created a special website to enable donations from the public.
Tate worked right up to the fundraising deadline to secure the work, and was successful thanks to the last-minute intervention of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Tate Members and the Art Fund, all of whom increased their original pledges on the day of the final deadline.
This acquisition demonstrates how the Art Fund, as an independently funded organisation with an independent voice, can facilitate fundraising to save works of art for the nation. At a time when public funding for museum collecting is in steep decline, the Art Fund’s unique position as a campaigning and fundraising organisation provides much-needed support to museums and galleries across the UK.
Read more about this acquisition on our ArtSaved website
