As Tate faces potential legal action from a Francis Bacon donor, British galleries’ relationships with private collectors need more scrutiny
With squeezed budgets, British museums are increasingly relying on private patronage, for financial support and donation of artworks. Yet while the former has faced close scrutiny in recent years, the latter have received little attention.
Now Tate faces potential legal action from one donor, Barry Joule, over his disputed claim that the British gallery has not honoured the terms under which he donated 1,200 sketches, photographs and documents from the studio of his late friend, the artist Francis Bacon.