Increased investment urged for UK’s museums and art galleries

A REPORT has called for increased investment in museums.

Historian Sir David Cannadine’s report, launched at Tate Modern, highlights the spiralling price of art on the international art market.

But it says that museums and galleries in the UK have limited funds to make acquisitions.

It cites the record 450 million US dollars – £341m – paid for Leonardo da Vinci’s

at auction last year, which it says is more than half the entire amount that the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and other Londonbased official bodies allocated to England’s museums and galleries in 2016-17. Sir David, author of the

report, said: “If ever there was a time to increase investment in museum curators and their collections, then that time is now.”

Paul Ramsbottom, chief executive of The Wolfson Foundation, which commissioned the report alongside the Art Fund, said: “While the funding challenges facing the sector may not be historically unique, they are certainly severe and potentially very damaging.

“What the report makes abundantly clear is the need for increased and intelligent funding from both philanthropy and, crucially, the public purse.”

Tate director Maria Balshaw said: “It is vital that we have the resources to collect and care for works of the highest calibre.”