Ensure your love of art brings happiness to future generations
The wonderful thing about a work of art is that it can go on giving pleasure year after year, long after the artist’s lifetime. By leaving a legacy or gifting a work of art to the Art Fund, you will help to preserve our artistic heritage for future generations to enjoy.
Leaving a legacy
Legacies provide a much-needed source of income for our work. Every legacy we receive – no matter how small – is a lasting gift that will enrich and benefit public collections throughout the UK. Your legacy will ensure that more works of art are available for everyone to enjoy, now and in the future.
If you would like to know more about how legacies help our work or how to leave us a legacy in your will, we would be delighted to send you a copy of our legacy pack, which also contains practical advice about how to help the Art Fund in a tax-effective way. For more information, please contact:
Sophie Harrison
020 7225 4866
mailto:sharrison@artfund.org
Making a gift or bequest of a work of art
The Art Fund also receives works of art given or bequeathed for presentation to public collections. We welcome all donations of works of museum quality and since 1903 have presented over 60,800 such items to museums. Our extensive knowledge of public collections means we can find the most suitable home for your gift.
The advantage of making your gift or bequest through the Art Fund, rather than directly to a museum or gallery, is that your gift will be protected in perpetuity by our binding terms and conditions. These ensure that works of art can never be sold or disposed of, and that they are always available for the public to see. The donor’s name can also be credited on the display label.
The gift or bequest of a work of art can have the added benefit of being tax effective. It is always advisable to contact your solicitor if you are considering making a gift or bequest, so that you can gain the maximum tax advantage.
Read an extract from our members’ magazine Art Quarterly about recent gifts and bequests:
Mrs Naomi Weaver (1937-2008) was a long-standing Patron member of the Art Fund. Her fine collection of 54 works was distributed to such venues as Falmouth Art Gallery, the Ashmolean Museum and Inverness Art Gallery and Museum. Read an extract from our members’ magazine Art Quarterly about the collection.
Arthur and Helen Grogan have been collecting art since the 1950s. A recent move to a smaller home prompted their generous decision to donate more than 160 works from their collection to nine museums and galleries across the country through the Art Fund. Read an extract from our members’ magazine Art Quarterly about the collection.
Ann Forsdyke (1913-2007) began her career in the art world at the Whitechapel Art Gallery during its formative years, and forged relationships there with a number of artists who later came to be represented in her collection. In 2007 she bequeathed the collection to the Art Fund, and the 27 works have now been placed in 15 museums across the UK. Read recent press coverage of the bequest.
Leeds Art Gallery was able to acquire its first sculpture by Elisabeth Frink thanks to a generous joint gift from the Frink Estate and Beaux Arts, London through the Art Fund. Read recent press coverage of the gift.
For more information about gifts and bequests, please contact:
Sophie Harrison
020 7225 4866
mailto:sharrison@artfund.org
About inheritance tax
The Art Fund is a registered charity and gifts in wills for charitable purposes are exempt from inheritance tax. If the tax free portion of your estate is left to relatives, with the balance going to charity, then your entire estate becomes tax free, irrespective of size.
For further information please visit: www.direct.gov.uk/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/
If you would like to know more about how the government has changed inheritance tax rules to support those leaving gifts to charities in their wills please visit the Legacy 10 website.
