The Courtauld has announced plans for two new contemporary art galleries and a reading room at London’s Somerset House, supported by a £10m gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The donation brings the Foundation’s total support for the institution to £20m.
The Blavatnik Contemporary Galleries are expected to open in 2029 as part of a wider campus redevelopment, costing £82m. This redevelopment will also involve the construction of a new Blavatnik Reading Room inside the Courtauld’s remodelled library.
The new galleries will host special exhibitions, artist commissions and events, providing what the institution describes as “a distinctive space for visitors and students to experience contemporary art”. Students on the Courtauld Institute’s MA course in curating will play a significant role in delivering the programme.
Leonard Blavatnik says: “My family and I have taken great pride in our association with the Courtauld over the past decade. It has been a privilege to play a leading role in shaping the gallery’s future.”
According to Forbes, Leonard Blavatnik—the founder of his family foundation—is worth $26.5 billion, making him the world’s 75th richest person. Born in what is now Ukraine in 1957, then part of the Soviet Union, he made his initial fortune through the privatisation of state-owned aluminium and oil assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although he denies having ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine imposed personal sanctions against Blavatnik in 2023.
Since reopening in 2021 after a major renovation, designed by 2025 RIBA Stirling Prize-winning architects Witherford Watson Mann, the Courtauld has expanded its contemporary art programming. Recent exhibitions have included solo shows for artists including Peter Doig and Claudette Johnson, alongside a major commission by Cecily Brown. The New York-based painter Salman Toor’s first European solo exhibition will open there on 2 October 2026.
Elena Crippa, the Courtauld’s senior curator of contemporary art, exhibitions and projects, says: “The new galleries will be a site of possibilities for artists to present exceptional artworks. These new spaces will help us connect past and present art and ideas, engage students and bring living artists to the core of our activities.”
The new galleries will be located on the top floor of the North Wing of Somerset House, within the new Courtauld Campus—a space designed in the 18th century as a display room for the Royal Society. They will be accessible to visitors via a dedicated entrance opposite the main gallery, providing full public access to the historic East Wing staircase.
The Turner prize-winning sculptor Antony Gormley is one artist looking forward to experiencing the new spaces. He says in a statement to The Art Newspaper that it is “wonderful to have, in such a lively intellectual context, a new place to look at, experience, and discuss the art of our time”.
