Wallace Collection to open new exhibition space in June

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Wallace Collection announces plans for new £1.2m exhibition space | London’s Wallace Collection has successfully raised the funds for a major development project that will see its exhibition space triple in size. The new space will open to the public in June 2018, coinciding with the bicentenary of the museum’s founder, Sir Richard Wallace. According to a statement from the institution, financial support has come courtesy of the Wolfson Foundation, The Linbury Trust and a third donor who wishes to remain anonymous. ‘This new space will enable us to shine a light on the immense quality of our works of art and raise the profile of the museum,’ says director Xavier Bray. ‘Thanks to the generous support of three major donors, […] we will be able to reach our potential as a truly international institution, sharing the museum with a broader and more diverse audience both at home and abroad.’

Simon Schama leads call to save Europe’s historic synagogues | Historian Simon Schama will lead calls in parliament to preserve Europe’s most historic synagogues, some of which are facing imminent ruin. According to the Times (£), a project, which the Foundation for Jewish Heritage is launching this week, has examined the condition and significance of more than 3,300 synagogues in 28 countries, many of which represent the last remaining evidence of once thriving Jewish communities.

Tate awarded historic research grant from Andrew Mellon Foundation | The Tate has received a grant of $1.5m from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that will go towards a major new research initiative aimed at creating innovative models for the conservation of works of contemporary art. The research grant, the largest the Tate has received to date, will be released over a three and a half year period as of January 2018.

Selldorf Architects to spearhead reinstallation of collection at the High Museum of Art | Atlanta’s High Museum of Art has handed Selldorf Architects a contract to complete a reinstallation of its collection galleries, the institution’s first such redesign in over a decade. The stated aim of the project, which is set to begin in the spring, is to create a ‘more coherent and unified experience’ throughout the Richard Meier and Renzo Piano designed building.

Catherine Hutin-Blay plans new Picasso museum in Provence | Catherine Hutin-Blay is planning to open a museum dedicated to her stepfather Pablo Picasso and his second wife, Jacqueline Roque, reports the Art Newspaper. Hutin-Blay, who is Roque’s daughter, inherited some 2,000 Picasso works from her mother, a large number of which will be displayed in the museum should the project come to fruition. The venue, which will be located in a former convent, is scheduled to open in 2021.