British Museum Deputy Chair quits
Muriel Gray resigned over the new £50m BP partnership
Also in this edition: Museum of Making to reopen, new Peckham Banksy chaotically removed, Italy’s museum reshuffle, Grayson Perry’s eye-watering bill
Happy Friday — and happy Christmas!
I was debating whether to send one final news round up this week. I thought that while many people are still in their inboxes today, the news in the week before Christmas would be quiet, with big stories few and far between. But then the British Museum piped up and said “hold my beer”.
Yes, in the year you’ve faced your biggest post-war crisis, what’s one more major controversy before the year’s end? And it is major, because — no matter whether you support or oppose the move — it was thought that the direction of travel on this issue was irrevocably fixed. This blew up that assumption, which is why it blindsided the arts world. See the full story below.
So yes, this is absolutely the final edition of the year. The 56th I’ve sent you. As ever, a huge thank you for reading in 2023. This newsletter not only turned five this year, it is now bigger than ever before. It gets 25,000 views each month and was named one of the very best newsletters in the actual world by the Observer newspaper in September. Still have to pinch myself.
A special thank you to those who have financially supported the newsletter this year too. To the four sponsors and advertisers I’ve worked, and to the 36 readers who have made voluntary donations over the past 12 months. If you’d like to help boost that number before the year is out, you can do so and donate £5 here. All financial support helps me keep writing and is always gratefully received.
Admittedly this is a slightly truncated final edition as we’ve all got Christmas Baileys to be cracking open. Have a very merry festive season, and see you in the new year.
— maxwell
— This is the 56th newsletter I’ve sent you in 2023. If you enjoyed them or found them useful, please consider donating £5 as a thank you. I’m grateful for every penny.
Need To Know
BP BACK at the BM
The British Museum has signed a new £50m sponsorship deal with BP, despite vocal opposition to the partnership from environmental campaigners — and despite media reports in the summer that the relationship had come to a definitive end. It emerged that the Trustees agreed this new deal in June. It will see the money given over a ten-year period to help fund the predicted £1bn cost of a total overhaul of the museum building and displays.
Environmental campaigners condemned the news. Group Culture Unstained said it was “astonishingly out of touch” and that they would formally challenge it. Esme Ward, Director of Manchester Museum — which in February opened a new permanent partnership gallery with the British Museum — said she was “appalled and depressed by this decision.”
And the museum’s Trustees were divided too. The Deputy Chair Muriel Gray resigned her post in November over the issue. And trustee Dame Mary Beard told the Times that she had opposed the deal and that “it would not have been my decision” but that she “accepted as a Board member the view of the majority of the Trustees.”
In newly-released Board meeting minutes, Trustees were also warned about the increased risks of damage to collections from protesters angered by the sponsorship deal. There were also concerns about the “personal safety of staff and trustees”.
While the move has divided many, a chunk of the British press support the move. The Evening Standard welcomed the news, and The Times newspaper in an editorial said that “the museum should be applauded for taking BP’s money.” The Telegraph hailed “BP’s act of generosity.”
The museum said that the “urgent need of renovation” of the grade I listed building made it necessary for trustees to seek “funding on this scale”. Charlie Mayfield, a trustee and chairman of the museum’s masterplan committee, said “the masterplan is so essential — and it’s exciting to be moving forward with our plans.” (Read more)
🔗 OPINION: I love the British Museum, but what I’ve learned about the depth of its crisis fills me with dread — Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian
News from the UK
New Year return | Derby’s The Museum of Making has revealed its reopening date, three months after being devastated by flood damage. Storm Babet in October caused the closure and what the museum said had been a financial cost at the "top end" of five figures. Thankfully it failed to damage any of the collections. It will reopen on 26 January. A museum spokesperson said "It's been a really difficult time for us.” (Read more)
Art isn’t taxing | Works by Damien Hirst and Claude Monet are part of nearly 50 items saved for the British nation under the two tax relief schemes — Acceptance In Lieu and Cultural Gifts Scheme — administered by Arts Council England. Up to March, the works worth £52m have been allocated to venues, including L’Epte à Giverny by Monet (1884), given to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. (Read more)
STOP that Banksy! | At Midday today, Banksy revealed a new stop-sign artwork on a street in Peckham in London. Half an hour later, two men were captured chaotically removing the work in front of stunned onlookers. According to the PA Media news agency, it’s understood Banksy was not behind the removal. The whole episode took just 60 seconds and one of the men left the bolt cutters behind. (Read more)
News from around the world
Australia 🇦🇺 | AU$148 million worth of Andy Warhol artwork is heading to Perth in one of Australia’s most significant ever loans within the country. 53 masterpieces will travel from the National Gallery of Australia to the Wanneroo Regional Gallery for two years. It’s the biggest move so far in the federal government’s plans to share the national art collection across the country. (Read more)
Italy 🇮🇹 | The Italian government enacted a major reshuffle of the state’s museums this week, as 10 Directors were moved or appointed. Most high profile was Eike Schmidt, Uffizi Director in Florence and now moved to the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples. All of the 10 are Italian citizens, reversing years of the government seeking foreign experts. This change has been prompted by Giorgia Meloni’s new right-wing administration. (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸 | The Whitney Museum in NYC is increasing the opportunities to visit the venue free-of-charge. Like many major museums, the Whitney hiked its ticket prices up this year, but it will now drop admission fees on the second Sunday of each month altogether. It’s also abandoning its pay-what-you-can Friday nights to go entirely free at these times. They said pay-what-you-can was too confusing. (Read more)
Best of the rest
How much?! | Sir Grayson Perry said he was “freaked out” by an eye-watering electricity bill, revealing energy firm EDF were adamant his bills should rise from £300 each month — to £39,000! (More)
Searching for museums | As we await news on 2023 visitor figures, Google has revealed the most searched-for museums of the year. Unsurprisingly the Louvre tops the list. Very surprisingly, at number five is an immersive-art extravaganza in Tokyo. (More)
Archaeologists slam claim | A sensational report this year that Indonesia’s Gunung Padang site is the world’s oldest building at 25,000 years old, has been utterly slammed by archaeologists around the world. “Not worthy of publication” is the verdict. (More)
— 36 readers sent me a donation in 2023. If you enjoyed these newsletter over the past year, or found them useful, please consider boosting that number by donating £5 as a thank you. I’m grateful for every penny.