£27m of acquisitions for the nation through Cultural Gifts and Acceptance in Lieu 9 Jan 2019

ACE has published its annual report on £27m worth of art and archival material received by the nation during 2017 – 18, either in lieu of tax or as part of the Cultural Gifts scheme. The report shows that:  

• There have been 40 cultural gifts worth £16m since the scheme began in 2013, with six new gifts in 2017 – 18. These include works by Mark Wallinger and Wendy Ramshaw as well as a portrait by Thomas Gainsborough which was allocated to the Fitzwilliam Museum.
• 36 artworks or groups of items were received under Acceptance in Lieu during the year, ranging from the Pilkington Collection of ceramics and glass to works by Patrick Heron and Lucian Freud and an album of 19th century natural history drawings.
• The items have been widely geographically dispersed, with 85% going to institutions outside London. Some institutions have benefited from receiving AIL items for the first time, including the Fashion Museum, Bath and the White House Cone Museum of Glass in Stourbridge.
• An oil painting by Jan Adam Kruseman of the 19th century explorer and sometime circus strongman Giovanni Battista Belzoni was given in 2017 – 18, but has just been announced as donated to the Fitzwilliam Museum.

  ACE, Museums Journal, ACE (Belzoni portrait)