In recent months, actual or proposed sales from certain museums have received more coverage than acquisitions that others may have made. At a time of widespread job losses across the sector, and with revenues from visitors having dried up, the priorities of many institutions have shifted – or at least, not many have been making noise about expanding their collections.
All the same, our annual selection of significant acquisitions – including those made before the pandemic struck – should bring a welcome reminder of what awaits when we are able to return to collections we prize. Among the highlights are discoveries that will open up avenues of research for scholars, such as a Gauguin manuscript not seen by art historians for more than half a century (Courtauld) and more than ‘lost’ drawings by Hokusai (British Museum).
Many museums have accessioned works that complement existing holdings. In acquiring Portrait of Jakob Omphalius, for example, the Mauritshuis has completed a husband-and-wife diptych, reuniting a long-separated couple. Elsewhere, recent acquisitions suggest refreshed emphases for institutional collecting policies. A drawing by Élisabeth Sonrel, purchased by the Ashmolean, is the first work by the artist to enter a British public collection. Not before time, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., has acquired its first painting by a Native American artist – I See Red: Target by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.
Maximilian Museum, Augsburg Two limestone putti, c. 1525–30 Hans Daucher (1486–1538) Limestone, ht 29cm and 27cm Purchased with support from the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and various state and federal funds
Mauritshuis, The Hague Portrait of Jakob Omphalius (1500–1567), 1538–39 Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder (1493–1555) Oil on panel, 31×21.5cm Purchased with the support of the BankGiro Lottery, the Rembrandt Association and H.B. van der Ven
University College Cork The Book of Lismore, late 15th century Kilbrittain, Ireland Pictured: Page from Agallamh Bheag in the Book of Lismore, late 15th century, scribe and decorator unknown, inks on parchment, 25×35cm (page) Donated by the Trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel Album Amicorum, 1596–1647 Compiled by Philipp Hainhofer (1578–1647) Pictured: Coronation of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, before 1612, artist unknown, with an inscription by Rudolf II, watercolour and gouache on paper, 20.8×16cm (book) Purchased with support from the Kulturstiftung der Länder and various other state and federal funds
National Gallery, London The Finding of Moses, early 1630s Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639) Oil on canvas, 257×301cm Purchased with museum funds and support from the American Friends of the National Gallery, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund, and public donations
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 39 Dutch drawings Pictured: Landscape with Ruins (recto), c. 1615–16, Jan van de Velde II (1593– 1641), pen and ink with wash on paper, 12.4×18.4cm Purchased with museum funds
Uffizi Galleries, Florence 455 works of art from the collection of Carlo del Bravo Pictured: San Giovannino, c. 1520, Rosso Fiorentino (1494–1540), tempera on wood, 53.5×35.5cm Gift of Lorenzo Gnocchi on behalf of Carlo del Bravo
National Maritime Museum, Amsterdam Two tapestries designed by Willem van de Velde the Elder (1611–93) Pictured: The Fleets Drawn up for Battle, after 1685, after a design by Willem van de Velde the Elder, tapestry, 587×330cm Purchased by the museum with contributions from the Vereniging Rembrandt and other Dutch sponsors
Glasgow Museums A Highland Chieftain: Portrait of Lord Mungo Murray, c. 1683 John Michael Wright (1617–94) Oil on canvas, 216.9×151.1cm Purchased with funds from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Art Fund, Friends of Glasgow Museums and the National Fund for Acquisitions
Victoria and Albert Museum, London Head of a Laughing Child, c. 1746–49 Chelsea Porcelain Factory, after Louis-François Roubiliac (1702–62) Porcelain, ht 19cm Purchased with support from the Art Fund
Nationalmuseum Sweden, Stockholm Two filigree beakers, 1698 Rudolf Wittkopf (fl. 1687–1722) Silver, partly gilded, filigree cladding, ht 26cm (each) Gift of Märta Christina and Magnus Vahlquist via the Friends of Nationalmuseum
British Museum, London 103 drawings from the Great Picture Book of Everything, 1829 Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) Pictured: ‘Virudhaka (Rurio) being struck by lightning’, from the Great Picture Book of Everything, 1829, Katsushika Hokusai, ink on paper, 11.2×15.3cm (sheet) Purchased with support from the Art Fund
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Our Lady of Guidance, c. 1762 Juan Pedro López (1724–87) Oil on panel, 100.3×69.2cm Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York More than 375 works of fine and decorative art from the collection of Jayne Wrightsman Pictured: Marie Antoinette in a Park, c. 1780–81, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842), chalk on paper, 58.9×40.4cm Bequest of Jayne Wrightsman
Musée du Louvre, Paris The Soul Breaking its Bonds with the Earth, 1821–23 Pierre-Paul Prud’hon (1758–1823) Oil on canvas, 292×203cm Gift of the Société des Amis du Louvre
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Palm Sunday, 1897 Élisabeth Sonrel (1874–1953) Watercolour and graphite on paper, 53×91cm Purchased with support from the Art Fund and funds from the Needle Brown Bequest
Cleveland Museum of Art More than 100 European and American paintings, Chinese and Japanese ceramics and other works of art from the collection of Joseph P. and Nancy F. Keithley Pictured: Chickens, Game Birds and Hares, c. 1882, Gustave Caillebotte (1848– 84), oil on canvas, 75.5×105cm Gift/promised gift of Joseph P. and Nancy F. Keithley
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem Bracelet, c. 1840 Probably made by Cutshing (fl. 1826–75), with inscriptions by Chinese merchants Gold filigree, ht 6.4cm Gift of Frank McMillin Wooten
Detroit Institute of Arts Maternity figure, 19th century or earlier Dogon peoples, Mali Wood, ht 47cm Purchased with museum funds
Museum of Modern Art, New York Fifty-six photographs from ‘The Atmosphere of Crime’, 1957 Gordon Parks (1912–2006) Pictured: Untitled, New York, New York, 1957, Gordon Parks, pigmented inkjet print, 35×53.3cm Purchased with the Family of Man Fund
New-York Historical Society More than 100 works from the Elie and Sarah Hirschfeld Collection of Scenes of New York City Pictured: Harlem Diner, 1938, Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000), gouache on paper laid on board, 32.1×48.6cm Promised gift from the Elie and Sarah Hirschfeld Collection
Städel Museum, Frankfurt Self-portrait with Champagne Glass, 1919 Max Beckmann (1884–1950) Oil on canvas, 65.2×55.2cm Purchased by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Städelscher Museums-Verein with the support of the Kulturstiftung der Länder and private donors
Courtauld Institute of Art, London Avant et après, 1903 Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) Bound manuscript (cover illustrated in pen and ink), 29.6×21.7×2.3cm (closed) Allocated under the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme
Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Philadelphia Museum of Art More than 660 works on paper and artists’ books Giuseppe Penone (b. 1947) Pictured: 2330 grammi, 1994, Giuseppe Penone, ink and pencil on paper, 48×33cm Gift of Giuseppe Penone
Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill Three American modernist paintings from the collection of Jane Roughton Kearns Pictured: Untitled, 1962, Joan Mitchell, oil on canvas, 161.9×96.8cm Promised gift of Jane Roughton Kearns
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. I See Red: Target, 1992 Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (b. 1940) Mixed media on canvas, 340.4×106.7cm Purchased with funds from Emily and Mitchell Rales
Hepworth Wakefield Nearly 100 modern British ceramics, paintings and works on paper from the collection of Terence Bacon and John Oldham Pictured: Black and White Hand-built Stoneware Form, c. 1994, John Ward (b. 1938), stoneware, ht 36cm Promised gift of Terence Bacon and John Oldham