The Courtauld Institute of Art has announced plans to create an “intellectual hub” for British art following a huge donation of $12 million (£9.4 million). London’s prestigious institution specialises in the study and research of art history and houses an impressive collection of artworks in its Gallery.  

The planned Manton Centre for British Art will be funded by the US-based Manton Foundation. It will “help secure the Courtauld’s ambition of becoming a world leader in the field of British art,” the gallery said in a statement.

Founded in 1991, the Manton foundation was set up by the art collectors and philanthropists Sir Edwin (1909-2005) and Lady Gretchen Manton as a vehicle for their extensive charitable giving in New York and abroad. The Manton’s started collecting British art in the 1940’s, amassing a vast collection of over 300 works by the likes of Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), and John Constable (1776-1837). In 1994, Sir Manton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) for his longstanding charitable services to the Tate.

The foundation is now managed by the Manton’s descendants, Julie Krapf and Sandy Niles, who visited the Courtauld prior to the donation. “We came away impressed by the dedicated academic training offered to students interested in British art, including the period of most interest to our grandparents,” said the philanthropic pair.

MA and PhD students studying British art as part of their MA degrees or PhDs will be able to conduct their research at the centre, which will offer a dynamic programme of activities and events across the year. There will also be a generously endowed programme of scholarships for researchers contributing to the study of British art. The centre will initially be housed at The Courtauld’s current campus at Vernon Square and later at a purpose-designed premises at Somerset House.

Matt Hallett, the Märit Rausing director of the Courtauld, said “we are hugely grateful to the Manton Foundation for their generous gift, which will enable us to support the very best new thinking and teaching on British art for generations to come.”

The Courtauld has been at the forefront of art history since it was founded by collectors and philanthropists in 1932. It is currently undergoing an ambitious £45 million transformation project, with the Institute’s original location in Somerset House due to reopen in 2026.