Gifts of works of art

Due to the heightened volume of acquisition currently under review, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is temporarily suspending the submission of unsolicited acquisition offers.

Please check this website regularly to stay up-to-date on our acquisition program. Thank you for your understanding.

Procedure for donating an artwork

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is not a government-run museum and must self-finance close to 99% of its acquisitions. It nonetheless continues to expand its collections each year thanks to the contributions of its generous donors. The Museum is always open to offers to donate works of art. Such offers are subject to a rigorous selection process. Prospective donors can submit a proposal for a gift of art by completing the form below, , including a description of the artwork and information on its history and provenance (if possible). Only complete files with photos will be evaluated.

Credit

Photo © Sébastien Roy

Credit

Photo Frédéric Faddoul

Credit

Photo © Sébastien Roy

Artwork donation offer

Regardless of whether a donation offer is accepted, a MMFA representative will contact the prospective donor to inform them of the next steps or of the termination of the donation process.

Upon receiving each offer, the Artwork Acquisitions Manager contacts the prospective donor to confirm whether the artwork has been selected for a more detailed analysis and to request additional information, if required. If the work is selected, it will then be submitted to the Curatorial team for approval.

The work will then be brought to the Museum for further analysis by a curator. The Conservation and Curatorial teams will assess the overall condition of the work and examine its history, significance and fit with the Museum’s collection. If the work is selected, it will be submitted to one of our four acquisition committees. Composed of the Museum’s Director, its Chief Curator, curators, collectors and third-party experts, these committees generally meet four times a year. If the work is ultimately accepted by the acquisition committee, the donor signs the deed of gift to formalize its acquisition by the Museum.

Once the work has been officially acquired by the Museum, a tax receipt can be issued to the donor for the eligible amount of the donation, dated to the signing of the deed of gift. A descriptive label acknowledging the donor is attached to the work in perpetuity.

The entire process can take up to 18 months.

Monetary donations for acquisitions

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Foundation

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts boasts an encyclopaedic collection that continues to grow thanks in part to the generosity of donors who make monetary gifts for the acquisition of works of art.

For more information on donations for acquisitions and acquisition funds, including the Marie-Solange Apollon Fund, please contact Nolwenn Bourdaire.

Learn more about the Marie-Solange Apollon Fund

Procedure for donating an artwork

Monetary donations for acquisitions

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