Getty’s money, Courtauld’s art

The J. Paul Getty Trust, which established a partnership with London’s Courtauld Institute of Art two years ago, has been accused of using its wealth to try to borrow valuable artworks from a Courtauld collection that is legally prohibited from traveling.

Known as the Princes Gate Collection, the holding of some 350 drawings and 32 Old Master drawings was bequeathed to the Courtauld by Austrian aristocrat Antoine Seilern in 1978 with the provision that works made before 1600 cannot be shown outside the Courtauld and later works can only be exhibited in London.

The Courtauld Trust, which owns artworks maintained by the Courtauld Institute, has asked the British Charity Commission for permission to relax terms of Seilern’s will, so that the institute can engage in reciprocal projects with other institutions. When the action became known, several British art historians wrote letters to the commission charging that the Courtauld is planning to exchange Getty money for illegal loans of artworks.

The accusation stems from the Getty’s agreement to give the Courtauld $10 million over three years, with payments to begin this fall. But the gift and the Getty’s partnership with the Courtauld Institute have nothing to do with the Courtauld Trust’s attempt to change travel restrictions in the will, said Barry Munitz, president of the Getty Trust.

The partnership is a multifaceted “educational and artistic alliance,” he said. It began when the Courtauld Institute was breaking away from the University of London and establishing itself as an independent college, and the money is intended to help the institute carry out its program. The Getty collaborates with the Courtauld on conservation projects and borrows unrestricted works from its collection, but “changing the bequest is not part of the package,” he said.

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Suzanne Muchnic