TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund

TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund 2026

Applications for the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund will open in July, 2025. Please pre-register via this form to not miss any news on the application going live. In case you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Coco Bannenberg via [email protected].

Please find the TMRF Terms, Conditions & Guidelines for 2025 here.

Bank of America supports TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund Conservation of the Black Book of Hours at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library

The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) and TEFAF. New York Lead Partner, Bank of America, are pleased to announce the Hispanic Society Museum & Library as the recipient of this year’s TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund (TMRF) in New York. Established in 2012, this annual grant supports the vital work of the international art community in preserving artistic and cultural heritage. In a newly established collaboration, the Bank of America Art Conservation Project is jointly supporting TMRF, creating the opportunity to double the fund’s impact this year.

With funding from the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund and Bank of America’s Art Conservation Project, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, a free public museum located in Washington Heights in New York City, will conserve Horae beatae marie secundum usum curie romane (Black Book of Hours). Given the extreme rarity of books of hours on vellum stained with black ink or painted with black pigment, it is among the most important items in the Hispanic Society’s manuscript collection. The work will be on view at TEFAF New York, which runs from May 9-13, 2025 at the Park Avenue Armory, with an invitation-only preview day on May 8. “The Society's broader mission includes advancing knowledge of Hispanic arts, literature, and history through its museum and library collections. The Black Book of Hours serves as a tangible connection to the past, embodying the artistic and historical narratives that the Society seeks to celebrate and share, ” Dr. John O’Neill, Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library commented.

“Art is often vulnerable to the passage of time. Realizing there’s a critical need to preserve art for future generations, we started the Art Conservation Project in 2010,” said Brian Siegel,

Global Arts, Culture & Heritage Executive at Bank of America. “Since then, over 275 awards have been made in 40 countries. This year's projects include a wide array of artistic styles, media and cultural traditions across the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America.”

Rachel Kaminsky, head of the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund committee, explains the significance of this important conservation project: “In keeping with the mission of the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund, we are proud to support the Hispanic Society Museum & Library’s ongoing commitment to sharing culturally significant treasures with audiences in New York and around the world. The restoration and preservation of the Black Book of Hours will allow for its proper display and ensure that future generations can study and appreciate this extraordinary and rare manuscript. Doubly exciting, the book will be exhibited at TEFAF New York, giving visitors a chance to view it firsthand prior to conservation.”

TEFAF will once again host a talk on the TMRF initiative presented in partnership with ICOM-CC. Moderated by Carolyn Riccardelli, Objects Conservator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the panel on Saturday, May 10, “The Black Book of Hours and the Role of Philanthropy in Manuscript Preservation,” will take attendees behind the scenes of the complex preservation project. More information and free registration for ticket holders here.

TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund Announces Musée Condé, Château de Chantilly, as it's 2025 Beneficiary

The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) has announced that the Musée Condé, Château de Chantilly, is the recipient of this year’s TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund (TMRF) in Maastricht. With TEFAF’s funding, the Musée Condé will restore the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, one of the most important illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages.

Often considered the ‘Mona Lisa’ of prayer books and a true medieval icon, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry cannot be displayed outside Chantilly due to the conditions imposed by the bequest of the Duke d’Aumale. Additionally, because of its fragility and value, it has never been available for public viewing for decades. The manuscript’s restoration now allows for the display of its legendary calendar, which will be detached from the binding and featured in an upcoming exhibition at the Musée Condé, alongside exceptional national and international loans that place it in its historical context and demonstrate its enduring influence from the 15^thcentury to the present day. This exhibition–from June 7 to October 5, 2025.

Mathieu Deldicque, Director of the Musée Condé, Château de Chantilly, commented, “It is a great honor for the Musée Condé to receive the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund. The restoration of the world's most famous medieval manuscript with the support of the world's most prestigious art fair truly makes sense, and it is a great opportunity to showcase one of humanity's treasures and preserve it for future generations.”

Rachel Kaminsky, head of the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund committee, commented, “The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry is one of the most celebrated masterpieces of Western art—an extraordinary convergence of beauty, craftsmanship, and rarity. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to contribute to the manuscript’s conservation persuaded the TMRF committee to waive a common consideration: that TEFAF be a leading or sole project sponsor.”

TEFAF will again host a TMRF Talk presented by ICOM-CC, powered by Aon, this year on Saturday, March 15, at 1PM during TEFAF Maastricht 2025.

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