Avant Arte: Grayson Perry

*This exclusive sale of limited edition prints has now closed.

In collaboration with Avant Arte, the CAS announced the creation of a unique silkscreen print Magical Thinking by the artist Grayson Perry which raised significant funds. 

The aim of this collaboration was to support Contemporary Art Society's 78 museum members across the UK, 50% of which receive no funds or less than £5,000 a year to add art to their collections. Proceeds from the sale of the print will be donated to the CAS and directly benefit 78 regional member museums across the UK and support the acquisition of art for local communities. We are thrilled that 1,163 international collectors purchased a print raising over £200,000 in under one week for the Contemporary Art Society.

Magical Thinking began when Grayson encountered a painting by Cornelis de Vos at the Wallace Collection in London. In a graphic composition inspired by traditional Russian lubki, he surrounds his own version of de Vos’ unidentified subject with a constellation of words and symbols. The work’s title references the layer of mystical subjectivity through which we each engage with reality.

Grayson worked closely with printmakers at Make-Ready in London to bring his vision to life. The result is a tactile silkscreen on bespoke textured paper with intentional irregularities – an homage to traditions from centuries ago, and a celebration of modern silkscreen printing.

To read more, visit the Avant Arte site here. 

Caroline Douglas, Director, Contemporary Art Society:

'The CAS first bought a work by Grayson Perry in 1998, and gifted it to the Potteries Museum in Stoke on Trent. The charity has been buying work by the most exciting artists of the day for more than 100 years - helping museums all over the uk to share the best of contemporary art with their audiences. Grayson’s work is emblematic of the unique way art brings commentary about the world we live in now to our public collections. We have always relied on private philanthropy to do this, and we are delighted to be working now with Avant Arte on this new fundraising initiative. It means we can support more artists and see more incredible art go into public collections for people to enjoy. The successive global crises of recent years have meant that funding to museums has been drained away. So now more than ever we need to help them continue the brilliant and vital work they do in towns and cities up and down the country.'

Mazdak Sanii, CEO and Co-Founder, Avant Arte:

'The partnership comes at a time of increased funding restrictions and cuts for many of the UK’s local museums with half of Contemporary Art Society’s member museums revealing in a recent survey that they receive no funds at all or less than £5,000 a year for the acquisition of art for their collections. Despite a recent YouGov poll stating that 9 in 10 consider museums to be very or fairly important to the country's culture. This partnership seeks to provide significant funds to support local museums across the UK and provide a new model for fundraising in the future by harnessing a new generation of art collectors.

The collaboration is part of Avant Arte’s programme with leading art organisations to harness their community of young, digitally native art collectors and ensure public access to art. The programme, which began in 2021, has raised over $10 million for museums across the UK and USA at a time of funding crisis. Museums that have benefitted from the programme include National Portrait Gallery, Dia Art Foundation, LACMA, and the Design Museum with contributing artists George Condo, Elizabeth Peyton, Ed Ruscha and Ai Weiwei.'