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Tate accused again of buying works by its trustee painters
Lucy Hanbury, Evening Standard15 Feb 2008
The Tate is facing accusations of boosting the careers of its trustees after buying paintings by members of its board.
Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller was appointed a Tate board member a year ago. Since then he has been forced to leave meetings a number of times while his colleagues discuss buying his art.
An investigation by art journal The Jackdaw will claim this month that Deller's fellow trustees never turned down any proposed acquisitions, commissions or exhibitions of his work.
David Lee, editor of The Jackdaw, said: "Minutes of meetings reveal the constant stream of trustees skipping out to the passage while conflicts involving them are being discussed."
Although the investigation does not accuse any of the trustees of anything illegal, it is well known that any acquisition or display of work at the Tate instantly raises the price of the artist's other works.
Under laws governing charities, which is how most major art galleries are run, trustees are not allowed to make money from their charity without permission.
Two years ago the gallery was embroiled in a similar row after it bought work by serving trustees, including another Turner prize winner, Chris Ofili.
The Charity Commission then ruled the board had broken the law by buying Ofili's installation of 13 painting monkeys for £600,000, a figure only revealed after Freedom of Information requests.
Mr Lee also accused a second trustee, Melanie Clore, deputy chairman of Sotheby's Europe, of failing to declare an interest in an exhibition of work by Peter Doig at the gallery while Sotheby's was selling some of his work privately.
"Knowing that it was highly sensitive I did not speak to anyone at Sotheby's about the intended Doig show at the Tate until it became public knowledge," Ms Clore said.
One of Doig's paintings, called White Canoe, went for a record £5.7 million in February last year, five times its estimate, just a few months after the trustee's meeting.
Another, Concrete Cabin, in which Sotheby's has an interest, is to be sold on 27 February for an estimated £600,000. The repeat of the conf lict of interest has prompted the head of the parliamentary watchdog for culture to warn against more embarrassment. John Whittingdale, chairman of the culture select committee, told galleries to avoid conflicts at all costs.
A Tate spokeswoman said the gallery had recently reviewed its policies.
A spokesman for Culture Secretary Andy Burnham told The Times: "Clearly we will be keeping an eye on what has been claimed, and if necessary will seek further clarification."
