The first Israeli to win the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, Matan Ben-Cnaan, was among the guests at the British Friends of the Art Museums of Israel lunch.

Mr Ben-Cnaan told the JC how Israeli art museums had kindled his artistic enthusiasm. "As a child, my parents used to take me to the Tel Aviv and Israel museums to see Old Master exhibitions. I had not yet visited Europe and these two museums were for me a shrine, a school where I could get inspiration."

The lunch was held at the Serpentine Galleries, whose director, Julia Peyton-Jones, was guest of honour, discussing changes in the art world since she had taken the job in 1991. She praised BFAMI as "an extraordinary organisation which supports artists and museums".

Nearly £30,000 was raised to fund a range of education programmes.