Your support in action – summer round-up 2024
From an 18th-century illustrated manuscript to a print by the godfather of British Pop art, here are some of the works of art we've helped museums to acquire recently thanks to the support of Art Fund members and donors.
Did you know that a big part of what we do at Art Fund is help museums and galleries to acquire objects and works of art for their collections, ensuring that they can be shared with the public for everyone to enjoy?
Below we've highlighted some recent acquisitions that have been made possible with Art Fund support, from Pop art prints to a rare portrait.
Eager to see more art we've funded? In Art Quarterly, our exclusive magazine for Art Fund members, we publish details of lots of works of art that we've helped museums to buy and share with the public, thanks to the vital support of our members and donors.
Inspired to visit any of the museums mentioned? Don't forget to take your National Art Pass with you to get great benefits at every venue.
Pop art prints from the Swinging Sixties
The Atkinson in Southport has acquired two Pop art prints by Peter Blake, bequeathed by Peter and Audrey Paul with Art Fund support. Madonna on Venice Beach (pictured above) and Babe Rainbow are both from the 1960s.
Widely recognised as the 'godfather' of British Pop art, Peter Blake’s paintings encapsulate the 20th-century movement’s obsession with images that lit up the modern world, from advertising to celebrity culture. Notably, Blake designed the album cover for the Beatles’ eighth studio album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in 1967.
Also included in this bequest is a print by Patrick Caulfield, Table and Ashtray, and Untitled (Self-Portrait with Sun Tan) by American artist Cindy Sherman, which adds to the Atkinson's collection of self-portraits and works by artists who use their own image to explore stereotypes.
A powerful contemporary portrait
Ken Currie’s painting Unknown Man: Portrait of Professor Dame Sue Black depicts the leading British forensic anthropologist at work. She wears blue scrubs while leaning over a covered body, the 'unknown man' of the title, laid on a trolley in front of her. Black is highly respected for both her academic and practical contributions to the identification of human remains.
Currie’s portraits are known for their visceral and unsettling explorations of the human condition, and often reference the work of major artists, including Rembrandt, Caravaggio and George Grosz. He met Black when they were both on the radio to discuss art and anatomy, and subsequently asked her to sit for him.
This striking painting now joins the Portrait gallery in Edinburgh's growing collection of portraits of prominent Scottish women.
An important record of the history of horticulture
This unique manuscript, bound in red leather, was handwritten and illustrated by British shoemaker and amateur horticulturalist Richard Hammond. He started the book in 1733 to record his horticultural interests. Decades later, he added in his musings on religious and philosophical ideas.
Hammond lists varieties of carnations, annuals, perennials and roses that he grew in his garden in Coddenham in Suffolk. His watercolours include 14 varieties of carnation, as well as the damask rose and white rose that he cultivated himself. He is known to have competed in several flower shows and attended meetings with other local florists.
An important source of information on the amateur cultivation of flowers in regional 18th-century England, the book joins the collection at the Garden Museum in London.
A rare work by a 19th-century woman artist
Evelyn de Morgan is believed to have painted only seven portraits during her career, making this painting of the artist’s young cousin a rare example.
De Morgan studied at the Slade School of Art in London, where she won several medals and awards. In 1875, she sold her first painting, and quickly became a critical and commercial success as one of the few women working as an artist in late 19th-century Britain. With the profits from her sales, she backed her husband William De Morgan’s ceramics business. The couple were big advocates for the campaign for women’s suffrage.
While De Morgan mostly explored mythological and spiritual subjects in her work, she occasionally painted portraits of close friends and family. The artist spent many summers with her cousin Winifred Bulwer at their family home of Cannon Hall in Barnsley, which now houses the De Morgan Museum.
The portrait joins the De Morgan Foundation’s collection, which has 56 oil paintings and more than 800 drawings by the artist, and over 1,000 ceramic works by her husband.