The British Museum is celebrating 255 years today (opening 15 January 1759) with a good news report recording record numbers of visitors to the gallery. 2013 saw 6.7m visits surpassing previous records of 5.9m in 2008. When the museum opened in 1759, they expected around 75 people a day to pass through the doors. Exhibits […]
The British Museum with the support of the Art Fund and private donations, have acquired two important and unique sets of progressive proofs, along with the finished works, that document the evolution of two linocuts by Pablo Picasso. The two prints, Still Life under the Lamp and Jacqueline Reading, from 1962, made when the artist […]
The British Museum in London has announced the acquisition of a generous gift of 34 important works on paper by 20th-century German artists to their collection. The works have been donated by Count Christian Duerckheim who holds one of the world’s most comprehensive private collections of contemporary German and English art. Count Duerckheim has presented […]
Thousands of ‘spring pictures’ or shunga, art were produced in Japan between 1600-1900. Now the British Museum has compiled a comprehensive exhibition of this sexually explicit work. It is the first of its kind in the UK to examine the often tender, funny, beautiful and undoubtedly accomplished shunga art that was produced by some of […]
A new app for tablets and smartphones to support the critically acclaimed exhibition Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum has been launched by the British Museum. Designed for those who experience the exhibition, or for people around the world who are not able to visit London it is an inventive and fun app. Using […]
Maria Miller has outlined the Conservative Government’s future policy on the arts and declared that they must “hammer home the value of culture to our economy”. She stated in a keynote speech, held at the British Museum, a case for joint private and public funding, by focusing on its economic, not artistic, value. Ms Miller […]
British Museum – Masterpieces from the last Ice Age drawn from across Europe are exhibited in this groundbreaking show. Created by artists with modern minds like our own, this is a unique opportunity to see the world’s oldest known sculptures, drawings and portraits. These exceptional pieces will be presented alongside modern works by Henry Moore, […]
The British Museum is currently showing an exhibition which opened on the 24 of May. The subject is all about horses. Rather the exhibition is about horses and their history. More specifically, the exhibition is all about the history of horses from Arabia to England. Aptly titled, “The Horse: From Arabia to Royal Ascot,” this […]
Light from the Middle East is a New Photography exhibition at both the V&A and the British Museum. It is the first major museum exhibition of contemporary photography from and about the Middle East. It will feature more than 90 works by some of the most exciting artists from the region, spanning North Africa to […]
Shrine to the unknown Teddy Bear constructed in London Last holiday season we were in awe of a scaled gingerbread model of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water House, complete with an icy river. It was created by Melodie and Brenton using 12 feet of gingerbread dough and 40 sleeves of large Smarties. But this year’s […]
British Museum acquires UK’s first complete Picasso set with aid of banker donation The British Museum has secured an exciting new acquisition this week thanks to the generosity of one wealthy businessman. This new acquisition, known as the Vollard Suite, is a collection of 100 Picasso etchings from between 1930 and 1937. And as a […]
5 October 2011
Review – In The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry invites us on a pilgrimage: saluting the ‘travel’ experience generated by the museum, we are to call at the historical and cultural stations that have informed our imaginative world and material output. ‘Few civilisations spring up spontaneously or develop in isolation’, […]
Art Fund Prize and Clore Award for Museum Learning Announced The British Museum has been shortlisted for this year’s £100,000 Art Fund Prize. The purpose of the prize is to recognise originality and excellence in museums and galleries in the UK.The prize longlist, which was made up of 10 museums and galleries, was announced on […]
Storage costs for art in British Museums is costing over a million pounds per year. A Freedom of Information request put in by the BBC resulted in the finding. “The British Museum spent £86,280 in 2009 and 2010, mothballing 99% of its collection, in storage.” Many museums in the capital keep an average of 90% […]
The British Museum and the National Gallery are finding it difficult to access over £50m given by private donors because of changes to Treasury regulations implemented under the last government. The scale of the problem is widespread, as the reserves for all national museums total over £285m. The museums have not openly admitted that a […]
In order to cope with government budget cuts, late-night opening to the permanent collection at London’s ‘Favourite Museum’ will be stopped on Thursday and restricted to one evening a week on Friday. British Museum Staff recruitment will be reduced as a result and savings made.The refreshments for internal meetings has also been halted immediately and […]
Lord Sainsbury has given the British Museum a £25m donation to create an improved conservation department and expand the exhibition spaces in the gallery. It is understood to be the largest single private donation in the last 20 years. The Conservative peer was also responsible for the controversial Sainsbury wing at the National Gallery designed […]