The Turner Prize has attracted only £30,000 in sponsorship, raising questions about levels of interest in the long-standing contemporary art award.
The two £15,000 donations were made by business partners — one a former Tate chairman and the other a trustee of its foundation.
Alex Farquharson, Tate Britain’s director and chairman of the Turner Prize jury, said they were “very grateful” for the £30,000 — which does not even cover the £55,000 prize money.
He insisted there was still “public appetite” for the prize, now in its 40th year and billed as one of the world’s best known prizes for visual art. It has previously been won by the likes of Antony Gormley, Grayson Perry and Steve McQueen, and for a period was arguably
