World Monuments Fund 104d ago

To mark WMF in Britain’s 30th anniversary, we were delighted to host this special lecture by WMF Britain Trustee Professor Sir David Cannadine at The Royal Academy of Arts in London on 11th March 2026. In this talk, Sir David reflects on the remarkable life and legacy of Paul Mellon, and explores how Mellon’s enduring values continue to find expression through the work of World Monuments Fund today. Paul Mellon (1907-1999) was one of the most influential transatlantic philanthropists of the 20th century: an American by birth, a Briton by instinct and education, and a collector whose extraordinary generosity permanently reshaped cultural institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. Thirty years go, a bequest from Paul Mellon to World Monuments Fund led to the establishment of the Paul Mellon Fund for Architectural Preservation in Great Britain, which has supported WMF's work across the UK ever since.