Art Fund invites crowdfunding for clean-up job at Greenwich’s Painted Hall

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Art Fund invites public donations to clean Greenwich’s Painted Hall | The Art Fund has made a public appeal for funds to clean ‘50 years of dirt and grime’ from the proscenium arch in Sir James Thornhill’s ‘Painted Hall’ at Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College. The project is part of a wider £7 million conservation plan for the hall, described by some as ‘the Sistine Chapel of the UK’, which is to be paid for in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Donations can be made through the Art Happens website.

Artist Pension Trust hands out returns for the first time | The Artist Pension Trust, a US-based fund designed to provide greater financial security for artists by pooling sales revenue, has made its first monetary distribution since it was established in 2004. According to The Art Newspaper, more than 400 artists participating in the scheme have received between $200 and $1,700 following the sale of over 20 works. Though the trust acknowledges that the payout is small at present, it describes the return as a ‘major landmark’. To date, the fund has amassed a collection of around 14,000 works by some 2,000 artists.

Tate Britain acquires Reynolds painting through Acceptance in Lieu scheme | Sir Joshua Reynolds’s painting of Frederick Howard, the 5th Earl of Carlisle, has been acquired for the nation as part of the Acceptance in Lieu scheme. The full-length portrait, painted by Reynolds in 1769, has been allocated to Tate Britain but, for the time being at least, will remain at Castle Howard where it has hung for over 200 years. Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson describes the work as an ‘outstanding example of the type of painting for which Reynolds is most highly acclaimed.’

Plans afoot for Jewish museum for children in Berlin | Seattle architectural firm Olson Kundig has won a competition to design a new offshoot of Berlin’s Jewish Museum, intended for children aged between 5 and 12 years. Located across the street from the main museum complex in Kreuzburg, the design will apparently take inspiration from Noah’s Ark, and is expected to open in 2019.