Bank of America Merrill Lynch art conservation project helps restore 20 works of art across globe
February 2, 2012 by All Art News
Filed under Museums & Galleries
LONDON.- At an event at London’s Courtauld Gallery last night (31 January), Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced this year’s conservation funding recipients through its unique Art Conservation Project.
This year, participating institutions span the globe from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), to Asia, Australia, Latin America and the United States. The Art Conservation Project will see the restoration of 20 art works and artifacts with important cultural and historical value from 19 countries.
The 2012 award selections for EMEA include one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s earliest manuscripts at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan; five Marc Chagall paintings at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and a collection of 1st century BC Urartian jewellery at the Rezan Has Museum in Istanbul. The programme aims to strengthen public awareness about the importance of art conservation, and the value that it holds in underpinning museum and gallery programming throughout the world.
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project is an extension of the company’s global commitment to supporting the arts.
At last night’s event, guests received a preview of the newly restored Rubens’ ‘Cain Slaying Abel’. This iconic work was restored as part of the bank’s inaugural project and will be on public display at the Courtauld Gallery, which is an international centre of expertise for conservation, from today (1 February 2012).
Introduced in 2010 in EMEA, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project is a unique programme that provides grants to nonprofit museums throughout the world to conserve historically or culturally significant works of art that are in need of restoration.
“As a company with employees and clients in more than 40 countries and 100 markets around the world, we learn every day that cultural understanding and respect are essential for economies and societies to thrive,” said Rena DeSisto, Global Arts and Culture executive at Bank of America. “We believe that understanding cultures through the arts is an important foundation for promoting innovation and tolerance in an increasingly integrated world. This programme makes real investments in the cultural treasures of many nations while at the same time helping museums with the growing cost of art conservation.”
“In these economically challenged times, and as art conservation consumes ever greater portions of tightened museum budgets, the need for private arts funding has become even more critical,” added Ms DeSisto.
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project is an extension of the company’s global commitment to supporting the arts. Partnering with more than 5,000 arts organisations worldwide, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s multi-faceted Arts and Culture Programme provides assistance for a wide spectrum of the arts, with an emphasis on programmes that foster greater cultural understanding.
Related posts:
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch Announces Unique Art Conservation Funding Programme
- Bank of America Art Conservation Project To Restore Global Cultural Treasures in 2011
- Museum of Fine Arts Receives $10 Million Gift from Bank of America
- “Digital Art Works. The Challenges of Conservation” at ZKM Media Museum in Karlsruhe
- Cincinnati Art Museum Conservator Conducts Conservation of van Gogh in Public
