Portrait of Bayeux Tapestry exhibition sponsor goes on view at British Museum amid scrutiny over ties to IDF

A portrait of billionaire entrepreneur Igor Tulchinsky is on public view in the British Museum’s Bayeux Tapestry exhibition amid scrutiny of his ties to Israel’s defense sector. The painting, by British artist Jonathan Yeo, was commissioned to mark Tulchinsky’s sponsorship; Tulchinsky reportedly donated £5m toward production costs, while the museum declined to disclose how the portrait was commissioned or its cost. Tulchinsky, a Belarus-born US-based founder and CEO of WorldQuant (reported by Forbes as having $17bn in assets and valuing him at $1.7bn), donated $1m to the Trump–Vance inaugural committee and in 2025 launched WorldQuant Genesis in Israel, which CTech says invested in drone-countering startup NavAiro and is managed by former IDF commander Saar Tzur. The exhibition’s first public tickets sold out within hours, raising about £2.5m, and the museum expects around one million visitors before the show closes on 11 July 2027.

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