UK museum finances "not sustainable" say Art Fund
PLUS: Monet painting attack sparks legal reform
This edition also features: National Museums Liverpool | British Museum | National Gallery | Slavery monument | Yayoi Kusama
Happy Friday
Apologies for the lack of newsletter last week, but I was on my first holiday of year — in the not-very-sunny-but-always-dreamy Netherlands.
A couple of days in Amsterdam was followed by a longer stay in The Hague where I managed four visits to museums that I’d never been to before. I was going to come up with some philosophical musings on the re-energising power of travel but I’ve thought better of it and instead am telling you why you should visit them too.
Museum Beelden aan Zee — a remarkable venue on the city’s blustery and expansive beach. It’s the only museum in the Netherlands dedicated to contemporary sculpture. The current exhibition is STUFFED with big names — Ai Weiwei, Sarah Lucas — all on loan from the most important private art collection in the country.
The Mauritshuis — stunning, stunning, stunning. A beautiful 17th century former palace filled with beautiful 17th century paintings. And not just any paintings, some of the world’s most famous including Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rubens’ Night Scene.
Kunstmuseum den Haag — one of the biggest art museums in Europe. And it really is huge: I’m not even sure I scratched the surface. There’s Monet, Picasso, Bacon, Bourgeois, AND Rodin’s Age of Bronze which I got ALL TO MYSELF. And the Art Deco building is worth the visit alone.
Museum Prinsenhof Delft — ok, not in the Hague but a surprisingly short tram ride away, the peaceful mini-city of Delft is a real historical oasis. This museum is the home of Delftware’s history. The current exhibition pairs treasures of the collection with contemporary ceramic artists to look at how pottery is having a 21st century resurgence.
I certainly would love to visit them all again and am genuinely already plotting my return (pray for my bank account). If you’ve visited them, then I’d love to know what you thought — hit reply to this email to tell me.
Now onto the news!
— maxwell
P.S. my last poll was an eye opener, not for the result per se but the scale of the victory for the winner. Read to the very end to see which political parties are getting your votes in the upcoming General Election.
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Need To Know
Funding fears increase
Even more UK museum directors have fears over their venue’s finances compared to 2022 according to a new survey by Art Fund.
Two-thirds are now are concerned about funding shortfalls (despite a rise in visitor numbers following the Covid pandemic). This is an increase on the 50% who were concerned two years ago. Because of this, Art Fund concludes in its 2024 Museum Directors' Research survey that “the current funding situation for museums across the UK is not sustainable.”
324 directors responded to the survey, and collectively they say they need a 10-20% increase in funding just to stabilise.
The results also show that only 49% of museums are generating income from corporate donations and sponsorship — and this is almost non-existent in Northern Ireland. But 51% have seen their commercial revenue go up.
The report also pays particular attention to Local Authority museums, which Art Fund’s Director of programmes and policy Rachael Browning says are “in a perilous and uncertain state.” (Read more)
Long Liverpool strikes conclude
The long-running strike action at National Museums Liverpool (NML) — which saw venues shutter — has come to an end. Staff from the PCS Union have voted to accept an improved offer from museum bosses.
Workers took more than 60 days of action over a six-month dispute over NML’s withholding of a £1500 cost-of-living payment, which was part of the government’s pay offer for 2022/23. The museum had argued it would be “impossible” for them to cover it.
The museum has now agreed to give a £1,200 payment. Staff will also get two extra days’ holiday a year and a 35% discount in museum cafes. PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote said that members “stood firm through many months of strike action and have now been rewarded with a significant sum and extra benefits.” She added that “this victory shows there is power in a union.”
Laura Pye, Director of National Museums Liverpool said: “We would like to thank our colleagues, visitors and members for their patience.” (Read more)
Monet attack sparks legal reform
The French culture minister wants to make attacking artworks a criminal offence in light of the targeting of a Monet masterpiece in Paris in the latest action by activists.
At the weekend a food activist was arrested after sticking an adhesive blood-red poster over the Coquelicots by Claude Monet at the Musee d'Orsay. Thankfully it was undamaged due to its glazing, and was put back on display after an inspection by experts.
But this latest move has prompted Rachida Dati to demand legal reform as activists who attack works covered by glass often do not face prosecution if a work is undamaged.
“Once again, a cultural institution and an artwork have been targeted by iconoclasts.” Dati said on social media, adding that she had asked the justice ministry to implement “a criminal policy adapted to this new form of crime which attacks the most noble aspect of our cohesion — culture”. (Read more)
News from the UK
“Blatant attack” ❌ | 33 MPs from four political parties have said they are “alarmed” by plans by the Imperial War Museums to de-recognise the PCS Union. The national museum group wants to prevent staff being represented by PCS, and it only wants to recognise one union: Prospect. The MPs signed a parliamentary motion saying the move could “[undermine] the principles of democracy.” Fran Heathcote, the general secretary of PCS, says it is a “blatant attack on our members’ democratic choices.” (Read more)
Slavery monument 🔜 | The six artworks and artists in the running to create the London memorial to victims of transatlantic slavery have been revealed. The surprisingly eye-catching designs include proposals by Hew Locke and Helen Cammock. It’s backed by cash from the Mayor of London and will be installed in 2026 outside the Museum of London Docklands. The public is being invited to give feedback with a winner announced soon. (Read more)
Hogarth hindsight 🎨 | Tate “didn’t get it right” with their 2022 exhibition Hogarth and Europe according to the gallery’s Director Maria Balshaw. The show was criticised for having labels written by contemporary commentators rather than curators. One critic called them “wokeish drivel”. Balshaw has now said “We were too didactic” and that “what’s more useful is not to be frightened of your expertise.” She also said the new Director of the British Museum Nicholas Cullinan will “have to deal with a lot of public dismay” over their renewed sponsorship with BP. (Read more)
Learning boost 💷 | New learning spaces are to be created at the Natural History Museum, Paisley Museum, Kensington Palace and the new V&A Storehouse in East London as part of the Clore Duffield Foundation’s 60th anniversary celebrations. The works have been made possible by a £30m donation by the chair of the foundation Vivien Duffield who said “now more than ever, I believe that culture should be at the heart of our children’s learning.” (Read more)
Infinity Kusama 🎃 | Yayoi Kusama is taking over London (again). Her tallest bronze pumpkin sculpture to date — over 6m in height — will be unveiled by Serpentine and the Royal Parks in Kensington Gardens next month. Also in July, Kusama’s first permanent public work in the UK will be installed at Liverpool Street station. And Victoria Miro’s 14th solo show of the artist will open in September, and will feature a brand new Infinity Mirror Room. How much is too much? (Read more)
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News from around the world
France 🇫🇷 | For the first time since its creation — 136 years ago — Van Gogh’s Starry Night has returned to Arles. Curators describe it as on an “exceptional loan” from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, for exhibition Van Gogh and the Stars at the Van Gogh Foundation. The show features 165 works by 78 artists inspired by Van Gogh’s painting. Co-curator Bice Curige said it “is a dream” to see Starry Night “just a few metres” from where it was painted. (Read more)
Israel 🇮🇱 | Israel has decided not to take part in the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale next year, with officials at the ministry of culture saying they need to renovate the country’s pavilion. Israeli newspaper Haaretz said this is the first time the nation has opted to withdraw from a major international event since the war on Gaza began in October, prompting other outlets to criticise the decision by the authorities. (Read more)
Spain 🇪🇸 | A long-lost Caravaggio painting — which was due to auctioned for a paltry $1,600 in 2021 thanks to a misattribution — has gone on public display for the very first time. Ecce Homo is now on show four centuries after it was painted at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The museum has called it “one of the greatest discoveries in the history of art” and is on loan until October. (Read more)
Best of the rest
Going once | A 49-year-old single malt Scotch whisky housed in a glass sculpture by Zaha Hadid Architects has sold for £93,500 at Sotheby’s. All of the £75,000 hammer price is being given to the V&A Dundee. (More)
Annual pavilion | It’s officially summer, as the Serpentine’s pavilion has been unveiled. Inspired by open courtyards found in traditional Korean homes, architect Minsuk Cho’s construction functions as a gallery, library, and an auditorium. (More)
BT beauty? | Heritage campaigners hope to save “boringly ugly” BT telephone boxes from the 1980s and 1990s. The Twentieth Century Society wants listed status for one KX100 box each in England, Scotland and Wales before they’re removed next year. (More)
Artist donors | Sir Grayson Perry has donated £180,000 to the Labour Party this year, newly released data reveals. Fellow artist Maggi Hambling also gave the party £85,000 according to the Electoral Commission. (More)
Historic loan | Van Gogh’s Sunflowers from the Philadelphia Museum of Art will leave the USA for the first time in nearly nine decades. It’ll travel to London to be reunited with the National Gallery’s Sunflower painting, the first time they've been together since 1889. (More)
👀 Last week’s most read news | Controversial Myra Hindley portrait, which caused a sensation in 1997, to go on show at Damien Hirst’s London gallery
📊 Last week’s poll results | If you are eligible to vote, which party are you planning to vote for in the UK's upcoming general election? | 🔴 LABOUR 74% | 🟠 LIBERAL DEMOCRATS 8% | 🟢 GREENS 8% | 🔵 CONSERVATIVE 5% | OTHERS 5%
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Welcome back. I’m glad you enjoyed your hols, especially with so much culture, art, and dreaminess!
They should go with the Khaleb Brooke design, but the public may prefer a more traditional (statues, stone, monumental) design from Locke or Kilomba.