TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund
The TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund (TMRF) was established in 2012 in order to support and promote the professional restoration and related scholarly research of significant museum artworks. Championing art in all its forms, applications for its grants are open to public museums from all over the world and artworks from any age. Each year, a maximum of €50.000 will be allocated to projects. The Committee of independent experts usually selects two winners to receive each € 25,000 to support their restoration project.
How to apply for 2024
The application for the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund 2024 will open in June and will be open for applications during the summer. If you are interested in applying for the TMRF, TEFAF asks museums to register via the button below to be notified when the application opens.
Register here to apply
Please find the TMRF Terms, Conditions & Guidelines for 2023 here.
Should you have any questions please reach out to Coco Bannenberg via [email protected] or +31 20 303 64 02.
TEFAF Maastricht and New York TMRF presentations
During TEFAF Maastricht 2023 the TMRF booth will be designed in collaboration with 2023 recipient the Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (KMSKA). The TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund supports the restoration of a painting by Michaelina Wautier titled Two Girls as Saints Dorothea and Agnes, dating circa 1650.
In collaboration with TEFAF Partner ICOM-CC, TEFAF Programming will offer a dedicated panel discussion on the importance of conservation on Sunday, March 12 from 10-11Am CET at the TEFAF Salon on the first floor of the fair.
During TEFAF New York 2023 the TMRF presentation will be designed in collaboration with 2023 recipient The Neue Galerie, New York. In collaboration with TEFAF Partner ICOM-CC, TEFAF Programming will offer a dedicated panel discussion on the importance of conservation during TEFAF New York too. Programming will be shared soon.
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The committee
The applications are reviewed and selected by an independent panel of experts - since 2021 the panel includes:
Rachel Kaminsky | Private art dealer from New York and former Head of Old Master Paintings at Christie’s. |
Dr. Kenson Kwok | Founder and former Director of the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum in Singapore. |
Carol Pottasc | Senior restorer/conservator from the Mauritshuis, The Hague. |
Dr. Ashok Roy | Museum scientist and leading international expert on the materials and techniques of European Old Master Paintings. |
Sir Nicholas Penny | Art historian, author, former curator and former Director of the National Gallery, London. |
PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS (2012-2021)
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL) - 2022 recipient
To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the TEFAF’s Museum Restoration Fund, for the first time ever, the recipient’s work of art will be shown, pre-restoration, at TEFAF Maastricht during the run of the fair. A dedicated space at the fair will be designed to showcase this work by Van Gogh. Later in summer 2022, the restoration project will start at the Boijmans Depot, where visitors are able to follow the restoration project.
The TMRF 10th Anniversary celebrations, including the presentation of the Van Gogh at the Maastricht fair and dedicated TEFAF Talks in collaboration with ICOM-CC, are supported by Aon, the TMRF Anniversary Supporting Partner.The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), USA - 2022 recipient
The MFAH is the largest cultural institution in the southwest region of the United States with an encyclopedic collection of nearly 70,000 objects dating from antiquity to the present. With TEFAF’s funding, the MFAH will conserve, using culturally appropriate methods, the Montefiore Mainz Mahzor (circa 1310–20), a festival prayer book and one of the rare Hebrew “illuminated manuscripts”—hand-written books with painted decorations—still in existence.
To celebrate the 10-year TMRF Anniversary, the book was on view at TEFAF New York from May 6 through 10, 2022. MFAH conservation efforts will begin later this year.
Hidde van Seggelen, Chairman of TEFAF commented, “Supporting the wider art community is, and always has been, an integral part of TEFAF’s mission. The TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund is one way that the foundation demonstrates its ongoing dedication to cultural heritage. We are delighted and honored to be working with the MFAH on such a wonderful project this year. We are immensely proud to present this particular work—the unique European cross-cultural exchange an object like this affords in modern times is extraordinary.”
MONTEFIORE MAINZ MAHZOR MANUSCRIPT
