London’s prestigious Courtauld Institute to create British art centre with $12m donation

The Courtauld, a public museum and institute for art history teaching and research in London, has announced plans to build a centre for British art with a $12m gift it received from the US-based Manton Foundation, set up in 1991 by the art collectors and philanthropists Edwin and Florence Manton.

The planned Manton Centre for British Art “will help secure The Courtauld’s ambition of becoming a world leader in the field of British art” and “will serve as an intellectual hub for art historians, curators, critics, artists and students nationally and internationally,” the institution said in a press release issued today.

The centre will initially be housed at The Courtauld’s current campus at Vernon Square and later in purpose-designed premises at Somerset House, the release said. It will serve as a base for students taking modules in British art as part of their MA degrees and for PhD students researching British art.

Mark Hallet, the director of The Courtauld, described the Manton Foundation’s donation as “a thrilling moment” in the institution’s history. “The centre will support students through a generously endowed programme of scholarships and offer a dynamic programme of activities and events across the year,” he said.

Julie Krapf and Sandy Niles, trustees of The Manton Foundation, said they came away from a visit to The Courtauld “impressed by the dedicated academic training offered to students interested in British art, including the period of most interest to our grandparents”.

The foundation is managed by descendants of the Mantons and primarily supports arts, education and environmental projects in the northeastern US.

Edwin Manton, an insurance executive who lived in New York, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his donations to the Tate Gallery. He died in 2005 at the age of 96.