Your support in action – spring round-up 2025
From a contemporary reimagining of a Benin bronze to a historic painting of 19th-century women working, museums have acquired these works of art and objects thanks to your support.
What do a contemporary interpretation of a Benin bronze, an ancient gold arm ring, and an Impressionist oil painting have in common? Well, they're all important works of art or objects that we've recently helped museums to acquire.
And how do we do this? It's made possible because we're a people-powered organisation. Every person who purchases a National Art Pass is helping us to provide grants to museums so that they can acquire works of art for their collections, for us all to enjoy. Pretty cool, right?
Keep reading to discover four works of art and objects that museums across the UK have acquired recently with Art Fund support. Each tells a fascinating story about a specific moment in time, spanning different cultures and histories.
To learn more about the works of art we've funded, check out Art Quarterly, our exclusive magazine for Art Fund members where we detail lots of works that we've helped museums to acquire. This wouldn't be possible without the vital support from our members and donors.
A contemporary reimagining of a Benin bronze
In November 2022, the Horniman Museum and Gardens returned the legal ownership of 72 Benin bronzes – historic artefacts that were looted from Benin Kingdom by British officers in 1897 – to Nigeria. To explore Benin's rich past and flourishing present, the Horniman redesigned the Benin Kingdom display in its world gallery and commissioned Osaru Obaseki to visit the museum and create a new work for its collection. Obaseki is an artist from Benin City who connects historical and contemporary stories to explore themes of cultural identity and colonialism.
This intricate bronze bust of an Edo woman depicts her torso built like a tree trunk to evoke how Edo culture is sturdy and rooted in tradition. It also resembles waves, reminding us that culture is also ever flowing and evolving, like water. This contemporary reimagining of a Benin bronze bust challenges colonial-era narratives that have often stripped these works of their cultural and historical context.
A satirical painting of 19th-century women's work
An attack on the stultifying restrictions faced by middle-class women seeking work in 19th-century Britain, this satirical painting by Florence Claxton was first exhibited in London in 1861 and is the artist's only known work in oil paint.
The clifftop scene depicts the restrictions of employment opportunities available to women at the time, with only two positive options on display: leaving the country or becoming an artist. The latter is reflected through the inclusion of a woman artist who is able to work freely on top of a ladder. An inscription of 'Rosa B' suggests that she is Rosa Bonheur, the most famous female artist of the time.
It now joins the collection at Manchester Art Gallery, where it provides a rich focus for debate on 19th-century social issues alongside strong holdings of contemporaneous paintings, including Ford Madox Brown’s 'Work' (1852-65).
A rare Bronze Age gold arm ring
Discovered by a metal detectorist in West Cumbria, this solid-gold arm ring is an exceptionally rare find for the region. Since 1997, only seven of the 479 gold Bronze Age objects reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme have been from Cumbria, with the majority coming from the south of the county.
Now acquired jointly by Tullie House Museum and the Beacon in Whitehaven, the arm ring complements existing holdings of Bronze Age objects to tell the story of life in the region in the pre-Roman age.
An Impressionist's record of a mansion repurposed as a military hospital
John Lavery’s painting The Ball Room at Londonderry House is an impressionistic record of an aristocratic London mansion in use as a military hospital during the First World War. It shows nurses attending wounded soldiers in a palatial ballroom, with portraits and statues.
Irish-born Lavery studied in Glasgow, London and Paris before establishing a career as a society portrait painter. He was an official war artist during the 1914-18 conflict, documenting its impact on the home front.
The painting joins the collection at Mount Stewart, a Neo-classical house and National Trust property in Newtonards, Northern Ireland.
The National Art Pass is the membership that gives back. Your support helps museums to buy and share works of art for everyone to enjoy, as well as run exciting projects that connect more people with art. Find out more.
This article is based on the acquisitions entries compiled Marcus Field for Art Quarterly, the magazine of Art Fund. The text about Osaru Obaseki's work is based on an article by Korantema Anyimadu, Senior Curator of Anthropology at the Horniman Museum and Gardens.