Museum acquisitions
Museums often acquire works through donations but, in spite of funding constraints, they also make purchases to expand their collections, either bidding at auctions, negotiating private treaty sales or, in the UK, via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
Bern accepts Gurlitt bequest: disputed works to be returned
01 December 2014The Kunstmuseum Bern’s announcement that it would accept the Gurlitt bequest (aside from any Nazi-looted art) has been followed by a pledge by Germany’s culture minister to return the disputed Matisse and other works to the families of their original owners.
![14-10-27-2164NE03A Fox Talbot.jpg](/media/1919/14-10-27-2164ne03a-fox-talbot.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558400000000)
Fox Talbot archive goes to Bodleian Library after appeal brings success
27 October 2014The Bodleian Library in Oxford has bought the personal archive of William Henry Fox Talbot, the British ‘founder of photography’, after a successful appeal.
Wedgwood archive saved as appeal hits £2.74m target
03 October 2014It has taken just over a month for the Art Fund’s £2.74m appeal to save the Wedgwood Collection to reach its target. It will now be gifted to the V&A but will stay in situ at the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston, near Stoke.
![14-08-27-2155NE02A medal cabinet.jpg](/media/1562/14-08-27-2155ne02a-medal-cabinet.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558240000000)
V&A secures Egyptian revival cabinet
27 August 2014This Egyptian revival medal cabinet, considered one of the finest pieces of French Empire furniture in Britain, has been ‘saved for the nation’ after a campaign by the Victoria & Albert Museum was successful in raising £534,000.
![14-07-25-2152AR02A Coalport porcelain.jpg](/media/1910/14-07-25-2152ar02a-coalport-porcelain.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558270000000)
Fitzwilliam Museum buys Coalport jug at Agricultural Society auction
25 July 2014A massive Coalport Feldspar porcelain jug painted with a study of Earl Spencer’s Durham Ox in a parkland setting has been bought by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
![14-05-30-2144NE04A Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg](/media/1906/14-05-30-2144ne04a-victoria-and-albert-museum.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558340000000)
V&A launch a Rapid Response to contemporary collecting
30 May 2014A pair of Primark jeans, a 3D-printed gun and Katy Perry branded fake eyelashes are just a few of the objects that will go on display in a new gallery at the Victoria & Albert Museum this summer.
Gurlitt hoard bequest shock
27 May 2014The Kunstmuseum Bern has called the huge art bequest by Cornelius Gurlitt a “bolt from the blue, since at no time has Mr Gurlitt had any connection with” the museum.
![14-05-12-2140NE04A National Museums Scotland.jpg](/media/1865/14-05-12-2140ne04a-national-museums-scotland.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558370000000)
Maple cabinet with intriguing artistic collaboration
12 May 2014Mystery surrounds the origin of a maple cabinet designed by Edward William Godwin and painted by James Abbott McNeill Whistler which has been bought by National Museums Scotland (NMS).
![14-03-26-2134AM02T Bourne Fine Art Edinburgh.jpg](/media/1628/14-03-26-2134am02t-bourne-fine-art-edinburgh.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558470000000)
Real interest in a Surrealist Scot
26 March 2014EXHIBITION – Edwin G. Lucas is not a name familiar to most, nor is the phrase ‘Scottish Surrealist’.
![14-03-20-2133NE05B Bronze Age jewellery.jpg](/media/1852/14-03-20-2133ne05b-bronze-age-jewellery.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558470000000)
Salisbury Museum declare bid for newly discovered Bronze Age hoard
20 March 2014Salisbury Museum is hoping to host a remarkable hoard of Bronze Age jewellery in a new gallery set to open this summer.
![14-03-10-2132NE03A Anthony Crichton-Stuart.jpg](/media/1944/14-03-10-2132ne03a-anthony-crichton-stuart.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558480000000)
New owners for Agnew’s as National Gallery buy archive
10 March 2014Just over a year since closing its Albemarle Street gallery, the long-established London art dealership Agnew’s has been acquired by new owners.
![14-02-24-2130NE03B George Bellows.jpg](/media/1890/14-02-24-2130ne03b-george-bellows.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558460000000)
Bellows paves the way for US artists at the National Gallery
24 February 2014The purchase of a George Bellows painting has signalled a major change in policy at the National Gallery, ending 190 years of showing only European artists.
Van Dyck given more time
24 February 2014The fundraising campaign to buy Van Dyck’s final self-portrait for the National Portrait Gallery will continue into the summer.
![14-01-07-2123NE04A Lacock Cup.jpg](/media/1619/14-01-07-2123ne04a-lacock-cup.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558490000000)
£1.3m purchase of unique 15th century survivor
07 January 2014The British Museum and Wiltshire Museum have bought the Lacock Cup, a silver chalice made in the first half of the 15th century, for £1.3m.
Chinese art collection for Ashmolean
23 December 2013The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has been given an important private collection of modern and contemporary Chinese art.
![13-11-04-2115NE05A John Constable.jpg](/media/2482/13-11-04-2115ne05a-john-constable.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558950000000)
Galleries gain Freud's Constable
04 November 2013This John Constable (1776-1837) portrait has been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland from the estate of the artist Lucian Freud (1922-2011) through the Government’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
![13-11-04-2115NE06A Bowes Museum.jpg](/media/2403/13-11-04-2115ne06a-bowes-museum.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558950000000)
Lowther casket goes to Bowes Museum
04 November 2013An 18th century casket made from fragments of Chinese porcelain has been bought by the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham.
![13-08-12-2103NE03A lorenzetti.jpg](/media/1995/13-08-12-2103ne03a-lorenzetti.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558600000000)
Vendor’s tax deal proves a gift to museum too
12 August 2013An English provincial museum has been able to acquire an export-stopped Old Master painting for a knockdown price of £1.61m thanks to the vendor striking a tax deal.
![13-07-09-2099NE02A Aymeric Rouillac.jpg](/media/2283/13-07-09-2099ne02a-aymeric-rouillac.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558640000000)
Rediscovered Japanese coffer sells to Rijksmuseum at £5m
09 July 2013An exceptional piece of 17th century Japanese export lacquer with a provenance to match has produced the highest auction price in France this year when it was sold to the Rijksmuseum for a hammer price of €5.9m (£5.26m).
Christopher Dresser Society launches
10 June 2013The Christopher Dresser Society will be launched at Teesside University on June 20.
![the saleroom](/images/Top-Banner-300-x-93px_v2.jpg)
- Adam Partridge London
- Antiques & Fine Art With Asian Art
- 03 Sep 2024 - 10:00 AM
- McTear's
- Antiques & Interiors
- 05 Sep 2024 - 09:30 AM
- Adam Partridge Liverpool
- Photographic & Scientific Equipment With Antiques & Collector's Items
- 05 Sep 2024 - 10:00 AM
- W&H Peacock
- Antique Furniture, Collectables, Selected Toys, Jewellery & Watches
- 06 Sep 2024 - 09:30 AM
- Unique Auctions
- Antiques, Jewellery, Furniture & Collectables
- 07 Sep 2024 - 09:00 AM
- Anthemion Auctions
- Ceramics, Glass, Paintings, Furniture, Books & Sporting
- 11 Sep 2024 - 09:00 AM
![the saleroom](/images/Bottom-Banner-300-x-93px_v2.jpg)
News
-
- Art finance
- Auctions
- Brexit
- Buyer's and seller's premiums
- Coronavirus
- Delivery and Shipping
- Education and Training
- Endangered Species
- Events and conferences
- Industry data
- Insurance
- Internet
- Law, crime and regulation
- Museum acquisitions
- Museum deaccessioning
- Obituaries
- Premises and Property
- Private Sales
- Recruitment
- Restoration
- TV shows
-
- 1818 Auctioneers
- Adam Partridge
- Adam's
- Addisons
- Ader
- Aguttes
- Alastair Gibson Auctions
- Alcala Subastas
- Aldridges
- Amersham Auction Rooms
- Anderson & Garland
- Andrew Smith & Son
- Anthemion
- AntikBar
- Antony Cribb
- Artcurial
- Arthur Johnson & Sons
- Aston's
- Auction Team Breker
- Auctionata
- Auctioneum
- Babuino
- Bainbridge Adam Partridge
- Baldwin's
- Bamfords
- Barbara Kirk
- Barbers
- Batemans
- BBR Auctions
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Beaussant Lefèvre
- Bellmans
- Bentley’s
- Biddle & Webb
- Bigwood
- Bishop & Miller
- Bleasdales
- Bloomsbury Auctions
- Boldon Auction Galleries
- Bonhams
- Bonhams Skinner
- Bosleys
- Bourne End Auction Rooms
- Brettells
- Brighton General Auctions
- Brightwells
- Bristol Auction Rooms
- Brown & Co
- Bruun Rasmussen
- Burstow & Hewett
- Byrnes
- C&T
- Cambi Casa d'Aste
- Canterbury Auction Galleries
- Capes Dunn
- Catherine Southon
- Cato Crane
- Chalkwell
- Charles Miller
- Charles Ross Auctioneers
- Charterhouse
- Cheffins
- Chilcotts
- Chippenham Auction Rooms
- Chiswick Auctions
- Chorley's
- Christie's
- Clark & Simpson
- Clars Auction Gallery
- Clevedon Salerooms
- Comic Book Auctions
- Cotswold Auction Company
- Cottees
- Cowans
- Criterion
- Crow’s Auctions Gallery
- Curated Auctions
- Cuttlestones
- Czerny
- David Duggleby
- Dawsons
- Denhams
- Dominic Winter
- Dore & Rees
- Dorotheum
- Doyle New York
- Dreweatts
- Duke's
- Durrants
- Eastbourne Auctions
- Eldreds
- Elmwood’s
- Elstob Auctioneers
- Ewbank's
- Featonby's
- Fellows
- Fieldings
- Fine Art Auction Group
- Fine Art Bourse
- Flints Auctioneers
- Fonsie Mealy
- Forum Auctions
- Frank Marshall
- Freeman's
- Freeman's Hindman
- Gardiner Houlgate
- Gary Don
- George Kidner
- Gerrards Auction Rooms
- Gildings
- Golding Young & Mawer
- Gorringes
- Graham Budd
- Grand Auctions
- Great Western Auctions
- Greenslade Taylor Hunt
- Gros & Delettrez
- H&H Classics
- Halls Fine Art
- Hampstead Auctions
- Hannam’s
- Hansons
- Harper Field
- Hartleys
- Henry Adams
- Henry Aldridge & Son
- Heritage Auctions
- Hermann Historica
- High Road Auctions
- Hindman
- Holloways
- Holt's
- Hôtel Drouot
- Hotlotz
- Humbert & Ellis
- Hutchinson Scott
- Jacobs & Hunt
- John Nicholson
- John Pye Auctions
- Jones & Jacob
- JS Fine Art
- Jubilee Auction Rooms
- Juliens
- Kerry Taylor
- KettererKunst
- Keys
- Kidson-Trigg
- Kinghams
- Kings Russell
- Knights Auctions
- Knowle Auction Rooms
- Koller
- Lacy Scott & Knight
- Laidlaw
- Lawrences of Bletchingley
- Lawrences of Crewkerne
- Lay’s Auctioneers
- Lempertz
- Leonard Joel
- Lindsay Burns
- Littleton
- Lockdales
- Locke & England
- London Auctions
- Lots Road Auctions
- Louis Taylor
- Lyon & Turnbull
- MacDougall's
- Mallams
- Mander
- Marlows of Stafford
- Martel Maides
- Maxwells
- McTear's
- Mellors & Kirk
- Michael Bowman
- Millon
- Minster Auctions
- Mitchells
- Moore Allen & Innocent
- Morphets
- Morton & Eden
- Mossgreen
- Mulberry Bank Auctions
- Mullock Jones
- Nagel
- Nesbits
- Netherhampton Salerooms
- Nicholas Mellors
- Nigel Ward
- Noble Investments
- Noonans
- Olympia Auctions
- Omega Auctions
- Onslows
- Osenat
- Paddle8
- Parker Fine Art Auctions
- Paul Beighton Saleroom
- PBA Galleries
- Peter Francis
- Philip Serrell
- Phillips
- Piasa
- Pierre Bergé & Associes
- Piers Motley
- Plymouth Auction Rooms
- Potter & Potter
- Potteries Auctions
- Rago Auctions
- Railtons
- Ramsay Cornish
- Reeman Dansie
- Rendells
- Richard Edmonds Auctions
- Richard Winterton
- Ritchies
- RM Sotheby’s
- Rogers Jones
- Roma Numismatics
- Roseberys
- Ross’s of Belfast
- Rowley's
- Rushbrooks
- Ryedale
- Semley
- Sheffield Auction Gallery
- Sheppard’s
- Silverwoods
- Sloane Street Auctions
- Sotheby's
- Sovereign Rarities
- Special Auction Services
- Spicers
- Spink
- St Jamess Auctions
- Staceys
- Stanley Gibbons Group
- Sterling Vault Auctioneers
- StockholmsAuktionsverk
- Stride & Son
- Summers Place Auctions
- Swan Fine Art Auctioneers
- Swann
- Sworders
- Tajan
- Tamlyns
- Tayler and Fletcher
- Taylor's Auctions
- Tennants
- The Pedestal
- Thimbleby & Shorland
- Thomas Del Mar
- Thomas N Miller
- Thomas R Callan
- Thomas Watson
- Thomaston Place
- Thomson Roddick & Medcalf
- Thomson Roddick Scottish Auctions
- Timeline
- Toovey's
- Trevanion
- Truro Auction Centre
- TW Gaze
- Unique Auctions
- Vectis
- Veritas
- W&H Peacock
- Wallis and Wallis
- Warren & Wignall
- Watches of Knightsbridge
- Wellers
- Wessex Auction Rooms
- Whitton & Laing
- Whittons
- Whytes
- Wilkes & Curtis
- Wilkinson's Auctioneers
- William George & Co
- Wilson55
- Woolley & Wallis
- Wotton Auction Rooms
- Wright Marshall
-
- 1stdibs
- Advertising Standards Authority
- Antiquarian Booksellers Association
- Antique Young Guns
- Antiquities Dealers’ Association
- Art Business Conference
- Art Fund
- Art Loss Register
- Art Recovery International
- Art UK
- Arts Council England
- Assay Office
- Auction Technology Group
- BADA
- BAMF
- CADA
- CINOA
- Company of Arts Scholars
- DACS
- DEFRA
- DMG
- EBay
- Hiscox
- LAPADA
- Lot-tissimo
- National Trust
- NAVA
- Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association
- RICS
- Society of London Art Dealers
- SOFAA
- the saleroom
- Triple-A Auctioneers
-
- Adams Antiques Fairs
- Affordable Art Fair
- Alexandra Palace fair
- Antiques Centres
- Antiques Dealers Fair Limited
- Ardingly Fair
- Armchair Art Fair
- Art & Antiques for Everyone Fair
- Art Antiques London
- Art, Antiques & Interiors Expo
- Arthur Swallow Fairs
- Bath Decorative Antiques Fair
- Battersea Decorative Fair
- Bermondsey Market
- Book Fairs
- BRAFA
- British Art Fair
- Brussels Fairs
- CADA Fair
- Car Boot Fairs
- Clarion Events
- Continuity Fairs
- Cooper Events
- Ephemera fairs
- Fine Art Asia
- Fine Arts Paris
- Firsts
- Florida Fairs
- French Fairs
- Frieze
- Frieze Masters
- Galloway Antiques Fairs
- Harrogate Fairs
- Hatton Garden
- Haughton Fairs
- Hong Kong Fairs
- IACF
- Jaguar Fairs
- LAPADA Fair
- Lincolnshire Antiques and Home Show
- London Original Print Fair
- Masterpiece
- Miami Fairs
- Midcentury Modern
- Modern British Art Fair
- NEC Birmingham
- New York Fairs
- Newark Fair
- Newbury Antiques and Collectors Fair
- Olympia Fair
- PAD London
- Palm Beach Fairs
- Paris Biennale
- Paris Fairs
- Paris Parcours
- Paris Tableau
- Penman Fairs
- Philadelphia Fairs
- Photography fairs
- Regional Fairs
- Salon du Dessin
- Sandown Park Racecourse Fair
- Showground Fairs
- Swinderby Fair
- TEFAF
- The Open Art Fair
- The Treasure House Fair
- Winter Antiques Show
- Works on Paper Fair
-
- Alfred Taubman
- Bendor Grosvenor
- Bill Ruprecht
- Charles Hanson
- Charlie Ross
- Cornelius Gurlitt
- David Lester
- Ed Dolman
- Eric Knowles
- François Pinault
- Ingrid Nilson
- Lennox Cato
- Lord Ashcroft
- Marco Forgione
- Mark Law
- Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Thani
- Simon de Pury
- Sue Ede
- Tad Smith
- Tim Goodman
- Victoria Borwick
-
- Abbott and Holder
- Agnews
- Alastair Dickenson
- Andrew Sim
- Blairman
- Carter Marsh
- Colnaghi
- Daniel Katz
- Dickinson
- Fabrizio Moretti
- Ian Towning
- Johnny Van Haeften
- London Silver Vaults
- Mallett
- Mark Weiss
- Partridge Fine Art
- Petworth Antiques Dealers
- Philip Mould
- Pimlico Road Dealers
- Richard Green
- Robert Young
- Roger Keverne
- Rupert Maas
- SJ Phillips
- Wartski
-
- A Lawyer Writes
- Around the Auction Houses
- Art Market
- Auction Reports
- Bid Barometer
- Books and Works on Paper
- Dealers' Diary
- Fairs, Markets, Shops and Centres
- Features
- Front Page and News
- International (print edition)
- Interviews
- Letters to the Editor
- News in Brief
- Obituaries (print edition)
- Opinion
- Pick of the Week
- Precious Metals Prices
- Previews
- Soapbox
- Special Reports
- Then & Now
Categories
-
- Arms, Armour & Militaria
- Bank notes
- Books & Periodicals
- Cameras & Camera Equipment
- Classic Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia
- Coins
- Collectables
- Entertainment Memorabilia
- Kitchenalia
- Maps
- Models, Toys, Dolls & Games
- Musical Instruments & Memorabilia
- Scientific Instruments
- Sporting Memorabilia & Equipment
- Stamps
- Taxidermy & Natural History
- Tools
- Wines & Spirits
- Writing Instruments