Minutes of a meeting of the Board held on Thursday 1 February 2024
Present
John Booth (Chair)
Diana Berry
Catherine Goodman LVO
Katrin Henkel
Sir John Kingman KCB FRS
James Lambert OBE
Rosemary Leith
David Marks
Dounia Nadar
Rosalind Nashashibi
Stuart Roden
Professor Molly Stevens DBE FRS FREng
Andrew Truby (Board Apprentice)
Apologies
Catherine Goodman CBE LVO
Tonya Nelson
In attendance
Dr Gabriele Finaldi - Director
Paul Gray - Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer
Victoria Hayes - Secretary to the Board and Head of Governance (Minutes)
Andy Hibbert - Director of Finance and Resources
Jane Knowles - Director of Public Engagement
Anh Nguyen - Director of Development
Susan Noonan - Chief Commercial Officer
Christine Riding - Director of Collections and Research
Larry Keith - Keeper and Head of Conservation for item 1
Jill Dunkerton - Restorer, for item 1
Christopher Riopelle - The Neil Westreich Curator of Post-1800 Paintings for item 1
Francesca Whitlum-Cooper - The Myojin-Nadar Acting Curator of Later Italian, Spanish and French Paintings for item 1
Per Rumberg - The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department for items 1‒5
Ben Browne - Security Adviser for item 5
Sarah Younger - NG200 Project Director for item 10
1. Pictures for treatment
1.1. In the conservation studio, the Head of Conservation and Keeper showed the Board, following treatment, Nicolas Poussin’s The Eucharist (NG6700). He explained that the painting would be hung in Room 31 with Nicolas Poussin’s Marriage, which was on loan to the Gallery. He also showed the Board Geertgen tot Sint Jans’s The Nativity at Night (NG4081). The Board approved the paintings as being ready to go back on display.
1.2. Trustees were shown Paul Cezanne’s Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses) (NG6359), Pierre Subleyras’s Diana and Endymion (NG6592) and Petrus Christus’s Portrait of a Young Man (NG2593), for each of which they had examination reports. The Board approved the treatments proposed.
2. Declarations of Interest: None
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2023 and matters arising:
3.1. The Minutes were approved.
3.2. The actions are ongoing.
3.3. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
4. Loans Out paper
4.1. The Jacob Rothschild Head of the Curatorial Department presented the loans out paper, which was approved.
5. Approval of contract for the International Tour visiting Taiwan:
5.1. The Director of Public Engagement presented the paper. The Board approved the contract being signed.
6. Potential Acquisitions:
6.1. The Director of Collections and Research presented the papers.
6.2‒6.6. Information has been excluded under s.22, s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
7. Director’s Report, including a look at the year ahead:
7.1. The Director gave his presentation which highlighted activity for each month of 2024.
8. Presentation of the Audience Strategy.
8.1. The Director of Public Engagement presented the strategy.
8.2‒8.4. Information has been excluded under s.36 and s.43 FOI 2000.
8.3. The strategy was approved.
9. Report from and Minutes of the Governance Committee, including the Summary and detailed analysis of the external Board Effectiveness Survey:
9.1. The Chairman summarised the report from the Chair of the Governance Committee, in her absence.
9.2. The Board approved the four areas of focus outlined in the report.
10. Update on the NG200 Welcome and Bicentenary Programme:
10.1. The Project Director joined the meeting and gave a presentation on progress in the capital projects.
11. Report from the Chief Commercial Officer:
11.1. The Chief Commercial Officer presented her report, which was noted.
12. Committees of the Board and others, reporting since the last Board meeting
12.1. The Board noted the Minutes of the Digital Advisory Board held on 9 November. The Chair of the Digital Advisory Board reported on a successful second round of interviews held that morning for a new Director of Digital Innovation and Technology and said that that the panel had been unanimous in their choice of candidate, who had accepted the position.
12.2. The Board noted the Minutes of the Audit Committee held on 12 December.
12.3. The Board noted the Minutes of the Finance Committee held on 12 December. Information has been excluded under S.36 and S.43 FOI 2000.
12.4. The Board noted the Minutes of the Ethics Committee held on 12 December.
12.5. The Chair of the Masterplan Committee updated the Board on the meeting held on 22 January.
13. Management Accounts and Development Report
13.1. The Director of Finance and Resources presented the Accounts, which were noted.
13.2. The Director of Development presented the Development Report, which was noted.
14. Appointment of Safeguarding Policy:
14.1. The Director of Public Engagement presented the Safeguarding policy, which was approved.
15. AOB None