Your support in action – winter round-up 2024-25
From striking contemporary stained glass to a hoard of historic Norman coins, museums have acquired these works of art and objects thanks to your support.
We've helped museums add all kinds of art and objects to their collections over the years – from a large anthropomorphic crab to a contemporary installation of a library. And as a people-powered organisation, we're able to do this thanks to our committed supporters and members, who enable us to help museums expand their collections and enrich everyone's experience as visitors.
Our winter round-up spotlights three remarkable acquisitions that, on the surface, are markedly different, spanning a range of time periods, genres and media. But each item tells a fascinating story of the time it was made, providing fresh insight into specific moments in time, from Thatcher's economic policies to contemporary debates around beauty standards.
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.
And if you're planning to visit one of the museums mentioned here, don't forget to pack a National Art Pass to make savings at every venue.
Contemporary stained glass pushes beauty standards
Acknowledging that the ‘beauty of stained glass allows you to talk about the ugly’, Pinkie Maclure combines literary, mythological and art-historical references with recognisable images to create visually appealing stained-glass works that invite discussion. Beauty Tricks speaks directly to contemporary issues around body image, fashion, surgical modification, the beauty industry, capitalism and the environment.
At the centre of Maclure’s panel is a woman wearing a pink dress and purple cloak with her exposed torso marked for plastic surgery. She has a halo of Botox needles and scalpels. The figure is based on an Italian Renaissance image of the Madonna of Mercy by Pierro della Francesca.
This visually compelling and seductive artwork continues the longstanding tradition of storytelling in stained glass and is now on permanent display at the Stained Glass Museum inside Ely Cathedral. Visit for free with a National Art Pass.
Largest coin hoard from the Norman Conquest
Discovered by metal detectorists in the Chew Valley in Somerset in 2019, this remarkable hoard of silver coins is the largest ever found from the period of turmoil following the Norman invasion in 1066. The hoard contains 1,236 coins of Harold II, the last Anglo Saxon king of England, and 1,310 coins of William I, who defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings.
All of the coins from the reign of William I are of the earliest type minted after his coronation on Christmas Day 1066. The coins equal the value of around 500 sheep at the time, so may have belonged to a member of the landowning or merchant class.
The Museum of Somerset tells the story of the county from 400 million years ago to the present day. The outstanding scale and quality of the Chew Valley Hoard adds a new chapter to this story, providing a snapshot of a turbulent time that is of local, national and international significance.
Controversial painting dissects the art world
Hans Haacke’s Taking Stock (unfinished) is a major work in the German-born artist’s long engagement with institutional critique, a form of conceptual art that explores the culture and business of museums, galleries and the art market.
The painting shows Margaret Thatcher in the style of a Victorian society portrait and makes connections between her free-market policies and the art world of the time. In the cracked plates on the bookcase appear the faces of Charles and Maurice Saatchi, the advertising gurus who created election campaigns for Thatcher. Charles was also an art dealer and on the committee of Tate and the Whitechapel Gallery, two positions he resigned from when this work was exhibited.
The painting now joins Tate as a seminal work by Haacke with a direct connection to its national collection of modern art.