a wider campus redevelopment,<\/a> costing \u00a382m. This redevelopment will also involve the construction of a new Blavatnik Reading Room inside the Courtauld\u2019s remodelled library, with costs covered by the \u00a310m gift.<\/p>\nThe new galleries will host special exhibitions, artist commissions and events, providing what the institution describes as \u201ca distinctive space for visitors and students to experience contemporary art\u201d. Students on the Courtauld Institute\u2019s MA course in curating will play a significant role in delivering the programme.<\/p>\n
Leonard Blavatnik says: “My family and I have taken great pride in our association with the Courtauld over the past decade. It has been a privilege to play a leading role in shaping the gallery’s future.”<\/p>\n
According to Forbes, Leonard Blavatnik\u2014the founder of his family foundation\u2014is worth $26.5 billion, making him the world’s 75th richest person. Born in what is now Ukraine in 1957, then part of the Soviet Union, he made his initial fortune through the privatisation of state-owned aluminium and oil assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although he denies having ties to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, Ukraine imposed personal sanctions against Blavatnik in 2023.<\/p>\n
Since reopening in 2021 after a major renovation, designed by 2025 RIBA Stirling Prize-winning architects Witherford Watson Mann, the Courtauld has expanded its contemporary art programming. Recent exhibitions have included solo shows for artists including Peter Doig and Claudette Johnson, alongside a major commission by Cecily Brown. The New York-based painter Salman Toor’s first European solo exhibition will open there on 2 October 2026.<\/p>\n
Elena Crippa, the Courtauld\u2019s senior curator of contemporary art, exhibitions and projects, says: \u201cThe new galleries will be a site of possibilities for artists to present exceptional artworks. These new spaces will help us connect past and present art and ideas, engage students and bring living artists to the core of our activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new galleries will be located on the top floor of the North Wing of Somerset House, within the new Courtauld Campus\u2014a space designed in the 18th century as a display room for the Royal Society. They will be accessible to visitors via a dedicated entrance opposite the main gallery, providing full public access to the historic East Wing staircase.<\/p>\n
The Turner prize-winning sculptor Antony Gormley is one artist looking forward to experiencing the new spaces. He says in a statement that it is \u201cwonderful to have, in such a lively intellectual context, a new place to look at, experience, and discuss the art of our time\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Courtauld has announced plans for two new contemporary art galleries and a reading room at London’s Somerset…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,147203,501,156,147204,12603,111,139,69,61045],"class_list":{"0":"post-254551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-courtauld-gallery","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-leonard-blavatnik","16":"tag-museums-heritage","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-philanthropy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}