Public and scholarly access to art may be limited, sometimes in perpetuity, by restrictions imposed by donors of artworks on museums/galleries. For example, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, holds the largest collection of the paintings by J.M. Whistler (1834-1903), but the terms of the gift of the collection (made by Whistler’s sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip, in the 1930s) specify that many works cannot leave the University’s buildings. Combined with donor restrictions on other collections (e.g. restrictions on travel of Whistler’s work held by The Frick, NYC, also imposed by a donor), certain artworks can never be exhibited or studied together, even those by the same artist. Donor restrictions, therefore, have a significant bearing on access to art, with real-world implications for the shape of art exhibitions as well as the art historical record.

This project seeks impact and knowledge exchange stemming from a previous publication (E. Cooper ‘Donor Restrictions and Whistler’s Portrait of Lady Eden: Reappraising Whistler v Eden (1897)’ Art Antiquity and Law, Special Issue: Donor Restrictions on Galleries and Museums edited by E. Cooper and S. Scholten 2023, 28(1), 69-81) which shows that in certain circumstances, academic research can support the relaxation of donor restrictions through their interpretation, thereby facilitating access to art-works without formal legal procedures that are lengthy and costly. The first stage of the project involved an event at The Hunterian, Glasgow (held on 18 April 2024) at which Whistler’s Portrait of Lady Eden was publicly displayed for the first time since 1897, despite its ‘exhibition’ being prohibited by donor restrictions. The public display of this painting was direct impact of Cooper’s article published in Art Antiquity and Law, 2023, which enables The Hunterian to narrow how it interprets this restriction so as to be more in-line with the donor’s original intentions.

The event at The Hunterian was part of two events engaging with the museum sector (under the banner From Scotland to the World) which drew a broad international audience including scholars, practitioners and representatives from the museum sector. Supported by the event’s co-convenors – The Hunterian and the Institute of Art and Law – the event provided a unique occasion to stimulate wider debate on donor restrictions. Feedback on donor restrictions from attendees was collated after the event, and discussions with a number of galleries and museums followed with a view to making the case for the value of their conversations with scholars and thereby furthering knowledge exchange and impact. This has resulted in presentations to the Imperial War Museum, Royal Brighton Pavillion and the UK Registrars’ Group (the body representing museum and gallery collection managers nationwide).