British Museum Receives £30 Million Donation For Redevelopment

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The British Museum has announced a substantial £30 million ($40 million) donation from a single, unnamed donor. This funding will contribute to the museum's £1 billion“Masterplan,” focusing on the redevelopment of its Western Range galleries, a project led by architect Lina Ghotmeh. The announcement was made ahead of the museum's second annual ball, scheduled for October 17.

Separately, the Metropolitan Museum of Art selected Danh Vo for its fourth Genesis Facade Commission. Vo is slated to create four new works for the facade's niches, which will be installed on September 17, 2027.

Meanwhile, Christophe Leribault, director of the Louvre, indicated that the museum faces closure unless the French government provides significant funding for necessary infrastructure repairs. President Emmanuel Macron has called for a €600 million ($669 million) overhaul of the institution, according to Le Figaro.

In other news, the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art is distributing nearly $195,000 across 13 international projects focused on Himalayan art and research, with a notable emphasis on Tibetan art and culture.

The Frieze London VIP day saw strong sales, including Pilar Corrias selling out a three-artist booth featuring landscape works by Sholto Blissett, Georg Wilson, and Rachel Rose. At Frieze Masters, Hauser & Wirth sold a Jan Brueghel artwork for $6.5 million, Artnet News reported.

Tate made several acquisitions through the Frieze Tate Fund, including Michaela Yearwood-Dan's Peace Unknown (2026) from Hauser & Wirth at Frieze London, and Luis Fernando Zapata's Barge (1992) from Galería Elvira Moreno and Alonso Garcés Galería at Frieze Masters. Since 2003, Tate has acquired more than 180 works from the fair.

Looking ahead, San Francisco's FOG Design+Art fair will return to Fort Mason Center from January 21–24, 2027. The event will feature 76 exhibitors, representing an approximate 20 percent increase from the previous year. Notable returning galleries include David Zwirner, Lisson, and Marian Goodman, while White Cube, Sprüth Magers, and Tanya Bonakdar will participate after a hiatus.

Christie's 20th and 21st Century Evening Auctions in London generated £219 million ($289.4 million), aligning with the lower end of the house's estimates. The top lot, an early painting by Wassily Kandinsky, sold above its estimate for £31.6 million ($41.8 million), according to Artnet News.

Sotheby's contemporary evening sale raised £45.9 million (about $61 million) from 37 works, falling within its presale estimate of $52.3 million to $73.5 million. An untitled 1977 Willem de Kooning work achieved $12.9 million, establishing a new European auction record for the artist, Artnet News reported.

At Phillips's modern and contemporary evening sale, a total of £14.8 million ($19.6 million) was brought in, with all 20 lots sold and two artist records set. Gerhard Richter's 1983 abstract canvas Mathis, from the collection of Marcel Brient, was the highest-selling lot at $7.6 million, slightly below its $8 million low estimate, according to Artnet News.

Christie's will present Barbara Hepworth's Sculpture with Colour (Eos) as the leading lot in its Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale in London on October 21. The work is estimated to sell for between £5 million and £8 million ($6.6 million to $10.6 million).

A limestone sculpture by Amedeo Modigliani, titled Tête and carved between 1911 and 1912, will headline Phillips's New York evening sale of modern and contemporary art on November 18. Estimated at $30 million, the sculpture has remained in the same family collection for more than 50 years and has never previously been offered at auction.

Several galleries announced new representations: Luhring Augustine now represents Joan Snyder in collaboration with Thaddaeus Ropac, and the estate of Leon Kossoff with Annely Juda Fine Art and Xavier Hufkens. Galerie Frank Elbaz now represents the estate of André Derain. Kour Pour has joined Olney Gleason. Pippy Houldsworth has taken on Jaune Quick-to-See Smith's estate. Bortolami now represents Emily Sundblad, and White Cube added Shigeo Otake to its roster.

Francois Pinault, founder of Kering and owner of Christie's, intends to establish a permanent exhibition of 106 works from his collection at Palazzo Grassi, one of his two exhibition venues in Venice, as reported by Le Monde.

According to confidential documents, Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone and an art collector, along with his wife Christine, donated $5 million to President Trump's White House ballroom, the Washington Post reported.

The Karachi Biennale in Pakistan has canceled its fifth edition, citing“war conditions prevailing in the region.” The exhibition, which was scheduled to run from January 16–31 under curator Noor Ahmed, proceeded without reportedly consulting Ahmed on the cancellation, according to Hyperallergic.

Artist and prominent Indian art dealer Peter Nagy, who gained recognition in 1980s East Village New York, has passed away at the age of 67, Artnews reported.

Source: Artnet News

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