The Contemporary Art Society is a charity that places important works of art in public collections and spaces across the UK. With the support of our individual and corporate patrons we raise funds to purchase works predominantly by young and emerging artists which we give to museums and public galleries where they are enjoyed by a national audience; we broker the gift of works of art by important artists of the 20th and 21st centuries for public collections through our networks of patrons and private collectors; we establish relationships to commission artworks and promote contemporary art in public spaces; we devise programmes of educational and engagement events. Since 1910 we have donated thousands of works to museums and public galleries – from Bacon, Freud, Hepworth and Moore in their day through to the influential artists of our own times, such as Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Elizabeth Price and Phyllida Barlow – championing new talent, supporting curators, and encouraging philanthropy and collecting in the UK.
Spend on art purchases and distributions decreased from £570,194 in 2017/18 to £563,103 in 2018/19.
Total income for the year was £1,404,093, compared to £1,417,687 in 2017/18. £1,090,953 was unrestricted and £313,140 was restricted. Total expenditure for the year was £1,352,373, compared to £1,405,370 in the previous financial year. £1,052,748 was unrestricted and £299,625 was restricted.
The overall surplus for the year is £51,720 (2018: £12,317), with a surplus of £38,205 (2018: £36,317) in unrestricted funds and a surplus of £13,515 (2018: £24,000 deficit) in restricted funds. The restricted fund deficit was due to restricted funding received during previous years being utilised during the current year and resulted in an equivalent reduction in cash balances. The significant unrestricted surplus represents a positive step forward in the unrestricted position.
The results show that we are making good progress in growing our spend on art purchase and distributions while managing our cost base carefully. We achieved a surplus, despite only holding one fundraising event during the year, and the Trustees are happy that the charity is a going concern.
By contemporaryart.org
To see fully the contemporary art market report by contemporaryart: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1by35djynfQTX_sQ2EFXnhSm4l7_HfMjp/view?usp=sharing
