T.S. Eliot's estate donates 'Cats' royalties to Brontë Museum
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, October 12, 2024


T.S. Eliot's estate donates 'Cats' royalties to Brontë Museum
A scene from “Cats” on Broadway in New York, June 19, 1997. The estate of T.S. Eliot has gifted the struggling Brontė Parsonage Museum, which reopened in late August 2020 after being closed since March, 20,000 pounds (or approximately $26,000) last week. Sara Krulwich/The New York Times.

by Sarah Bahr



NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Thanks in part to a donation from the estate of one of England’s most esteemed poets — and some dancing cats — the Brontė Parsonage Museum’s doors will remain open, for now.

The estate of T.S. Eliot has gifted the struggling museum, which reopened in late August after being closed since March, 20,000 pounds (or approximately $26,000) last week. The donation was first reported by the BBC.

The parsonage, located in Haworth, said it was facing a loss of expected income of more than 500,000 pounds because of the coronavirus pandemic.

There is a connection between Eliot and the Brontės: The “Bradford millionaire” who appears in the Eliot poem “The Waste Land” is thought to be Sir James Roberts, a Yorkshire philanthropist who was also a customer at the bank where Eliot worked. Roberts donated Haworth Parsonage — once the home of the Brontė sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne — to the Brontė Society, which operates the museum, in 1928. Roberts knew the family as a child.

But the Eliot estate’s gift didn’t come with any fanfare: Rebecca Yorke, the head of communications and marketing at the Brontė Society, said she discovered the donation when it showed up on the museum’s crowdfunding campaign page with a message of support. “Realizing that it was from the T.S. Eliot estate was a very special moment,” she said.




Yorke said the Eliot estate told the organization that the donation was possible thanks to the success of the Tony-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats,” which is based on Eliot’s playful 1939 poetry collection “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.”

The parsonage houses the largest collection of Brontė manuscripts and personal possessions in the world and attracts more than 70,000 visitors each year. “Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Brontė, and “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontė, were both written there.

The museum has been hard hit by the pandemic because more than 70% of the Brontė Society’s income comes from admissions, events and retail, according to its website. The typically busy spring and summer months normally sustain it through the slower winter season.

The museum has furloughed a majority of its staff and applied for grants and emergency funds, but it still faces an end-of-year deficit of 100,000 pounds. As of Tuesday afternoon, its crowdfunding campaign had raised approximately 53,000 pounds.

Yorke said the donation from the Eliot estate gives the museum hope. “We are very grateful for the support,” she said, “and are pleased that there is still a connection between Eliot and the Brontės all these years later.”

© 2020 The New York Times Company










Today's News

September 9, 2020

Mark Bradford reveals new paintings quarantined in a grain tower

You can always get what you want: Stones open new store

T.S. Eliot's estate donates 'Cats' royalties to Brontë Museum

Comic books flourish on crowdfunding sites, drawing big names

Super-rare Machine Man robot with original box leads Morphy's Sept. 23-24 Toy Auction

Hindman announces highlights included in the Atlanta Collections auction

Grad student's research leads to discovery of Biddy Mason in SF mural

Sikkema Jenkins & Co. reopens with a solo exhibition of works on paper by Kara Walker

I'm Not the Only One: Fraenkel Gallery opens a group exhibition

The National Gallery of Denmark delves into the story of how epidemics have affected the world

Simon Lee Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Toby Ziegler

Tiny mouse-size art proves a hit in Sweden

Colombian curator José Roca appointed as Artistic Director of the 23rd Biennale of Sydney

Robert Berry Gallery opens new show, PerFlection and (im)Perfection: One Vision in Parallel Lives

Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson opens Gregory Halpern's exhibition "Soleil cou coupé"

Personal effects of major US political figure up for auction at Ewbank's

CENTRALE for contemporary art opens an exhibition of works by Xavier Noiret-Thomé & Henk Visch

Paradigm Gallery announces representation of photographer Shawn Theodore

miart presents its first digital edition

'Israel jazz dares' - Jerusalem festival plays despite pandemic

Jazz lives in clubs. The pandemic is threatening its future.

Bortolami opens an exhibition with New York-based performance artist Aki Sasamoto

Autry President announces retirement; Successor named

Beginner's Guide on How to Play Bingo

What Will Happen To Bitcoin In The Next 2 Years

Top 5 Pro Mp3 Convertors

Wedding dress: Things to consider




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del SeƱor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful