It’s no secret that making and showing art costs money (artists have to live off more than paint fumes). In a time when many governments are cutting back on support for culture, the artworld has increasingly come to depend on private patrons. Philanthropy, a 66-page publication printed and distributed alongside the May 2025 issue of ArtReview, provides an overview on the forms of art philanthropy practised today, and how these models vary from place to place.
Tracing a history of the art of giving, Leslie Ramos considers various motivations for why patrons choose to support the arts, ranging from altruism to status seeking. ‘Historically, much of arts philanthropy has been rooted in a belief – sometimes moral, sometimes paternalistic – that certain kinds of culture are good for people,’ writes Ramos, highlighting modes of thinking prevalent in the nineteenth century that exposure to great art could elevate the individual and society. The belief that art is good for us, a civic necessity worth supporting, has only strengthened in the intervening years, though the means of delivering this support has often wavered.
Through a series of country-specific features, Philanthropy addresses the ways in which giving is moulded by circumstances and context. Jareh Das looks at the agility of women-led arts philanthropy models in Nigeria in the absence of formal structural support; Oliver Basciano contemplates the model of Brazil’s Serviço Social do Comércio (SESC) – funded by a corporate tax – and how it sits alongside more familiar forms of patronage; Kai Jabir Friese reports that many philanthropic institutions in India are ‘playing it safe’ and need to make more space for emerging artists; Jenny Wu addresses the US’s ‘second gilded age’, and how the pandemic shone a blacklight on unsustainability and inequality in the arts sector; and Mikala Tai suggests that new models of private philanthropy may offer a way forward amid political controversies and arts funding cuts in Australia.
Also in Philanthropy, regional guides to different types of philanthropic initiatives spanning Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia, the US and Australia, and interviews with prominent philanthropists Han Nefkens, Durjoy Rahman, Christian Levett and Patrick Sun about why and how they entered the world of art philanthropy.
Additional highlights included newly commissioned artwork by Dan Perjovschi and Guy Richards Smit, and a very select series of statistical outtakes on the art of giving.
ArtReview is grateful for the support of Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation, Han Nefkens Foundation, Levett Collection and Sunpride Foundation, without whom this publication would not have been possible.
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