Tate accused of replacing curator-written artist bios with Wikipedia text

The Tate in London has been criticized for replacing curator-written artist biographies on its website with text copied from Wikipedia, citing a lack of resources. Art historian and critic Bendor Grosvenor exposed the practice on Twitter on September 7, 2018, pointing out that the entry on Anthony van Dyck misspelled his name and highlighted his beard as a major achievement. A Tate spokesperson responded that the institution lacks funds to create or update every biography, and that Wikipedia pages are constantly reviewed and thus more current. The Tate plans a long-term collaboration with Wikipedia. Over 100 artist profiles on the Tate website were originally written by experts, including entries on Turner, Constable, and Bacon, but biographies for Hogarth, Reynolds, Moore, Freud, Hockney, and Hirst are missing. The controversy raises concerns about the quality of documentation at one of the world's most prestigious museums.