TATE COLLECTION


TATE COLLECTION

Borrowing from the Collection

Loans Policy

King George V, Accompanied by Queen Mary, at the Opening of the Modern Foreign and Sargent Galleries at the Tate Gallery
Sir John Lavery, King George V,
Accompanied by Queen Mary, at the Opening
of the Modern Foreign and Sargent Galleries
at the Tate Gallery, 26 June 1926, 1926,
© The estate of Sir John Lavery

Tate's mission is to increase knowledge, understanding and appreciation of British and international modern and contemporary art.

Tate's extensive programme of loans of works from its Collection to other institutions supports that mission. Through lending, Tate aims to increase public access to the national Collection and to reach new audiences, to contribute to distinctive exhibitions and public programmes in Britain and internationally, to promote British art abroad, to support artists and to foster a spirit of collaboration and exchange between museums and galleries.

Exhibitions

Tate lends several hundred works each year to temporary exhibitions in Britain and abroad. All loans are administered centrally at Tate, including any works currently on display at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum, St Ives. To enable Tate to operate a consistent loans policy, The Board of Trustees has decided that loans from Tate should normally be limited to three categories:

  1. exhibitions that demonstrate innovative ways of increasing knowledge, understanding and appreciation of art in a wide public;
  2. exhibitions that demonstrate original research and that will make a contribution to art-historical or other knowledge;
  3. significant one-person exhibitions that enhance knowledge of the work of the artist.

Organisers should make a full case for the importance and relevance of the exhibition and why the requested works are sought.
Works in fragile, poor, or unstable condition making them unsuitable for display or transport will not be lent.
Requests will be considered alongside the requirements of Tate's exhibition and display programme; taking into account the capacity of Tate to deliver its programme as a whole, including its loan commitments.

Touring Exhibitions

Only in exceptional circumstances will works be loaned for touring exhibitions consisting of more than four venues.

Long Loans

Requests for long loans from the Collection (normally 2-5 years) will be considered from the following categories of borrower:

  1. Galleries and museums in Britain where there is a clear purpose or context for the loan of a particular work, especially to complement the borrower's collection;
  2. Public buildings in Britain with a strongly justified case for a particular work.

Conditions

All loans from Tate are agreed subject to the following conditions and procedures.

Tate is fully committed to complying with all national and international policies, guidelines and codes of practice relating to the lending of works from its collections. You can access these documents below: