London's new Tate Gallery of Modern Art has announced a �1.25m sponsorship deal for a commissioned artist to display work there when it opens next year.

The deal with Unilever is the Tate's first major sponsorship programme of its kind.

French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois, 87, is the first artist to be commissioned under the five-year scheme for the new museum, currently taking shape in the former Bankside Power Station by the River Thames in Southwark, south London.

Tate Gallery director Sir Nicholas Serota said it was an "historic day" for the �134m project, which is due to open in May 2000.

Sir Nicholas added: "A new gallery offers new opportunities for artists and audiences. We are enormously grateful to Unilever for their very generous support for such an imaginative project."

Lars Nittve, director of the new gallery, said he was "delighted" to have attracted Ms Bourgeois as its first commissioned artist and called her "one of the great artists of this century".

Much of Tate's collection hidden

Led by Swiss architects Jacques Herzoh and Pierre de Meuron, the new Tate is being funded by organisations including the Millennium Commission, English Partnerships and various, mostly anonymous, private sources.

The Tate's existing collection includes more than 4,000 paintings, 1,300 sculptures and installations, more than 50,000 works on paper and print, the Oppe Collection of 3,732 works and the Turner Bequest of 38,000 works.

Many of these works are stored in the cellars of the existing gallery on Millbank because there is not enough room to display them.

The new gallery will show international 20th century art, including works by Picasso, Matisse, Dali and Warhol.

Ms Bourgois' sculptures will be displayed in the Turbine Hall area of the gallery, which is expected to attract more than two million visitors a year.