UK Artists Accuse Shuttering Artist Pension Trust of ‘Epic Betrayal,’ Former Barnes Foundation President Richard Glanton Has Died, and More: Morning Links for July 7, 2026
More than 40 artists are challenging the closure of the London branch of the New York–founded Artist Pension Trust (APT), alleging it has likely operated as an unregulated investment scheme and demanding the return of their artworks and compensation, according to the Financial Times. APT, described in 2009 as a speculative “pension program for contemporary artists,” asked participants in a termination agreement to retrieve works worth 70% of their contributions while APT would keep 30% to cover outstanding expenses; artist Céline Condorelli called the offer “a betrayal on an epic scale.” The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has not been regulating the company, which is run from outside the UK, and a lawyer administering the closure, Guillermo Malm Green, said APT is owned by many distributed shareholders, excluding co-founder Moti Shniberg. The same ARTnews briefing also reported that Richard H. Glanton, the former Barnes Foundation president known for a combative tenure in the 1990s that included touring 80 French artworks to raise funds, died at age 79, as reported by the New York Times.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Museum Power Plays and Cultural Flashpoints