Liberate Tate? (ctd.)
January 26 2015

Picture: Immo Klink
After all that, the amount BP pays Tate seems to be pretty tiny (reveals The Guardian). Between 1990 and 2006, the annual sponsorship was between £150,000 and £330,000. So can we suspect that Tate's real reluctance to release the figures was that they charge so little for such high profile corporate sponsorship? They need to look at their rate card again...
Now, in Tate's defence, these figures are from before the recent renovations at Tate Britain, where even the standard display is liberally plastered with BP logos. So I'd expect BP to paying substantially more than that now. And if they aren't, then something has gone really wrong. Speculation from BP/Tate critics suggest it's about £500,000 a year; not much at all. Tate must release up to date figures immediately.
Update - a reader points out that the current Chairman of Tate's trustees, Lord Browne, was Chief Executive of BP from 1995-2007.